Metal wire around tree!

pantsx

My parents live in Dallas, TX and have two trees in their front yard. They were planted by the home builder about 4-years ago. When the trees were young, there was a metal wire surrounded by green plastic loosely surrounding the tree to provide support.

As the trees have grown, the support wires were, unfortunately, not removed. I visited home recently and my parents pointed out the problem. The wires are incorporated in the trunk of the tree and are almost impossible to remove without hurting the tree. We tried!

Tree 1 appears to be dead as there are no leaves present. Tree 2 appears to be alive. There are leaves below where the wire is but not above.

I was curious about how to proceed from here. Do I cut down Tree 1 and replant another tree?

Can I cut Tree 2 right below the wire? Will it still grow properly? If so, should I do this in the fall/winter when the tree is "dormant" or can I do it now?

Thanks for your help. My parents will have to be more vigilant from now on.

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Eric Frei

Personally, in my opinion I would cut them down and start again.

Why?

Because that is a really bad location for such a serious wound, it will affect the trees integrity in the future. Whilst the tree may "jump" over the wire and consume it within there will be a loss of strenth at that point, just happens to be the critical point where canopy movement is focused to the trunk and root system. All the work that tree will do goes past that spot.

Sure you can "save" it, heck people even save dead trees.

I think I would personally rather invest into something that has better form.... start fresh, this time no wires for support.

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Brent Ferris

There is no advantage keeping #1. Dig it out, and put in another tree, preferably a different species.

Tree # 2 may survive. If possible, cut off the plastic hose and the wire within - you may be able to pull it out with vice grips, being extra careful not to tear the bark. Cut off the dead limbs above.

Some trees will incorporate the wire into the trunk, and continue growing with nary a passing glance. Some suffer lots, some die.

If the tree survives, remember the wire is there when the tree needs to be removed. Tends to dull a chainsaw when the chain hits it.

There is a park near me that prides itself on all the new trees it plants, and how well treed its grounds are. Pity they don't look after them. I have often gone over with a pair of wire cutters, and sometimes vice grips, and cut the wires, pulled off the hose, and sometimes am able to pull the hose/wire out -- sometimes not. Mostly the trees suffer some losses, but overgrow the obstruction and keep on growing.

I did a job a few years ago, where I took off the top of the willow, and with a rope attached to a winch, tried to pull the trunk the way I wanted it to go after notching the tree. The trunk came to a 45' angle and stopped! It eventually came over. But only after the T-bar inside the trunk had snapped. Seems the original owner had staked the tree, never removed the bar, and the tree had encircled it. Willow is a fast growing tree, and apparently the extra iron didn't slow its growth at all.

So pantsx if your trees just have wires, count your blessings - the stakes could be in the trunks as well.

Or, you could just cut them down and start over with different varieties, and look after them better.