Ive never seen sprayfoam in a tree, but the shop I work at had one of the trees on the property struck by lightening that split one of the main branches pretty bad down into the trunk itself. THe old man who owned the place didnt want to pay to have someone trim it out and since the strike had literally blown chunks of root out of the ground figured it would die. We strapped it around the trunk to keep the limb in place and ten years on, its ate the strap, filled in the split and is thriving quite well.
Both things can be true lol. Usually an arborist would use cables screwed into the wood to prevent further failure of a limb or codominant stem. The cables have to be checked every 3 years or so. It's universally accepted as bad practice to wrap anything tightly around a tree due to the way they grow and transport nutrients. But trees are resilient and want to live, and some trees (species and growth rate dependant) may be able to overcome something that is generally really bad practice. The exception doesn't disprove the rule.
Even if that tree looks healthy and has a full canopy there's still a strong chance that it has significant internal decay and may experience sudden failure in the future. Some trees are really good at walling off decay and looking outwardly healthy until they're suddenly not. Only an arborist could give you a good estimate of that likelihood.
"But trees are resilient and want to live, and some trees (species and growth rate dependant) may be able to overcome something that is generally really bad practice."
Nah you ARE a tree. You're here now. You made it to this moment. Even when the world felt like it was choking you out, even if it feels like it's doing so right now, you're still here. You've made it further than you ever have before and you just keep going.
Right, and one anecdote clearly disproves that. Like if one person doesn't get a vaccine and doesn't get sick that proves that doctors were lying about vaccines and they're actually a hoax. Good logic.
I have a "tree" in my backyard that was half dead when I moved in. So I trimmed off all the dead limbs.
Then about half the remaining limbs died, so I trimmed those. Then what was left started getting close to the utility lines so last year I sawed it all down to stumps. I assumed it would surely die and be the end of it.
Nope, fresh green branches started coming out of the stumps. It refuses to die. I decided I will let it be, but keep it trimmed down smaller than what it got to because it was a PITA to trim at full height.
I think that’s probably polyurethane glue and not spray foam. I fixed a maple tree (smaller than this one) that had split down the middle after an ice storm. Polyurethane glue and four brass bolts pulled it back together. It’s been about 20 years now and the tree is doing great. Can’t even tell it was repaired.
If someone ever cuts that tree down and processes it for lumber they're gonna be pretty pissed off if the first time they realize there's a ratchet strap in the trunk is when the metal ratchet chews the teeth off their blade 😅
I was an arborist for a couple of decades. People used to fill such cavities with cement. Trashing a couple $80 chains trying to flush an old stump off is a miserable time. None of that does anything. The ratchet straps can help but not in this scenario, the foam will likely only accelerate decay. Iron rods work to a degree but it really needs to be tied together in the upper canopy, that’s where all the leverage is. I’ve seen some crazy stuff. People have some nutty ideas about trees
A tree in my grandparents front yard was hit by lightning when I was a kid, grandpa put tthe smaller of two limbs back upright and reapplied the bark with bailing wire. The reattached branch and only the bark attached to flesh took. The tree had scars and died of a disease over the next decade and had to be cut down but it survived the lightning strike.
Lol, no, the giraffe did not he doesn't vibe with the universe in a 2008 comic about zoo animals living through the Iraq War. He says the bombs were gods coming to free them, or something to that effect.
FYI, this is really bad for the tree. Those straps are just going to cause girdling on the remaining healthy bark and that spray foam is just trapping moisture and pathogens inside while interrupting the tree’s natural process of compartmentalizing decay
The city did this to a tree near my parents place as it had been full of wasps. They cleared the hive and filled it with foam until they could schedule time to come back and clear it.
If it was gonna uproot sure. If it was falling due to a split down the tree, they can work temporarily for like a pretty decent amount of time. Theyre kinda designed for dozens and dozens of TONS of force
I get the spray foam bit, that sounds dubious. But isn't the ratchet strap idea basically just splicing on a larger scale? It might not work, but I don't think it's as much of a death sentence as you seem to.
Urethane foam is hydrophilic during cure and contains antimicrobial chemicals. If the tree doesn't immediately die from absorbing those chemicals, it has a pretty good chance of recovering.
Really bad for the tree was the damage that just occured prior to this "fix". Can you explain what should have been done instead? Like it would be better for the tree if we did nothing?
Ratchet straps is a somewhat common way to keep split trees together. I had an apple tree planted sometime in the early 1900s. In the 80s or so it had split and been ratched strapped together. It stood straight and had lots of apples until three years ago, when the strap broke. Half the tree fell and the other half died.
You're looking past the tree was filled with a toxic chemical all while being split and condensed with ratchet straps. Nothing about any of this is good for the tree.
It's not inert when it's sprayed in the first place. The heat from the curing is also going to be terrible for the tree. It's a terrible thing to do to a tree.
I'm sorry. I meant my message in More of a joking tone and not directly being an asshole to you. I re-read my comment and realized it was probably more received as being a jerk to you.
Ohh no, didnt think you were a jerk at all. Was just pointing out I have no idea about trees so your comment could have very well been right. I guess your joke flew over my head haha
It’s about as good for the tree’s healing process as filling your wounds with spray foam would be for your healing process and then applying ratchet straps. (It is not good.)
That said; while I’m no arborist, I do live in a neighborhood where old trees have taken damage from high winds including a tornado, and when I see long breaks like this on those trees, it is typically inevitable that the limb will lose structural integrity and eventually break. This tree’s fate might already be sealed regardless of the well intentions of those who want to care for it.
It might survive. You can find pictures of of old trees filled with bricks. They used to do that to keep them stable or something for some reason. Trees are pretty resilient.
A relative would always tell us they needed to cut down all their trees because they filled a rotten one with concrete 20 years ago, but forgot which one. They all look fine today ...
There’s a story in the book Wilding where the author mentions that the ancient oak in front of their house was falling apart during WWII and the Canadian troops stationed there used tank tyres (I think??) to ratchet it together. It’s still standing! Some trees are tough as.
I think it would have been better if you used some bolts, drilled those through, and bolted it tight with the ratchet straps. That would have been enough. The spray foam doesn't seem like it would be healthy for the tree.
Certified arborist here. A mature hickory like this likely would survive a lightning strike without much trouble. There will be a long vertical wound, but that can heal over in just a few years by the trees own mechanisms.
Spray foam would hold moisture against the wood, which fosters bacterial and fungal growth, which can lead to a long slow death.
Straps aren't great, obviously, but a tree of this size will probably just grow around them.
A lot of best practice in tree care is a bit counter-intuitive. Meanwhile, bad practices get handed down for generations without correction.
as stupid as this looks... it seals in the breaks, and supports the tree. Given time, the tree will just grown around all this stuff and after a few years as long as it doesn't fall.. it can live another hundred years.
Lol I've only seen one of my clients use spray foam. On a old apple tree.
I was treating the tree for something unrelated, and when I noticed the sun damaged spray foam I initially thought it was some crazy fungus for a moment.
As others have said, straps are going to girdle the tree. They could try to bolt it, but that's a pretty large diameter to run a bolt through.
Grew up on a tree farm, we had many trees that have been struck by lightning. The spray foam can help insulate the damaged flesh of the tree, it's not necessarily the best fix, but it is a good fix, as for the ratchet straps, as long as they're removed and checked on everyday they shouldn't be a problem, though a pile with cross tied nylon would probably be the best
lol I thought I was the only one! We had a large dogwood that a storm split at the fork right down the middle. I didn’t spray foam but I did ratchet strap it. Tree lived over 10 years, grew over the straps and all was well until a derecho destroyed it. Wish I’d taken pics, my wife said it was crazy, but I won.
I guess if you loosen the straps every now and then it wouldn’t chew into the cambium layer of the tree as it grows tangentially, as far as the spray foam goes I guess it would stop fungi and pathogens from entering the trees system, but overall it’s pretty sketchy either way- advice from an arborist
I fixed my a branch on my Japanese maple with duct tape. The branch was ripped about halfway by accident by a work crew working on our house. I put the branch in place and wrapped duct tape around it. Three months later I checked it and added more tape. It’s been several years now and the branch is doing fine.
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u/Logan_Frost 17h ago
Ive never seen sprayfoam in a tree, but the shop I work at had one of the trees on the property struck by lightening that split one of the main branches pretty bad down into the trunk itself. THe old man who owned the place didnt want to pay to have someone trim it out and since the strike had literally blown chunks of root out of the ground figured it would die. We strapped it around the trunk to keep the limb in place and ten years on, its ate the strap, filled in the split and is thriving quite well.