help me save this great tree!

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My girlfriend just moved in to her new house yesterday. There's a real nice tree in the backyard but a previous resident screwed a bolt into the trunk (I guess to chain-up an animal). How bad is this for the tree? What should I do?
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The tree is 20-25 feet tall...some type of pine tree.
The diameter of the trunk at about a half meter above the ground (where the bolt is) is approx. 12 inches.
It's a 1/4" bolt and it's probably screwed-in about 5 or 6 inches.
I don't see any signs of any sap or pancake syrup or anything.
And the bark around the hole looks to me like this was done kinda recently... I don't know, but it definitely doesn't appear to have "healed-over" (or whatever).

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It's the wrong time of year for sap, wrong type of tree for syrup.

The bolt is still in?

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It likely isn't a problem for the tree. Try and post a pic if you can.

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ehBeth wrote:

It's the wrong time of year for sap, wrong type of tree for syrup.

The bolt is still in?

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It likely isn't a problem for the tree. Try and post a pic if you can.

ditto that

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I'd agree that a single bolt probably isn't going to harm the tree.

If you want to, remove it and paint over the hole with pruning paint. The biggest issue with removing the bolt is keeping insects from burrowing in there before the tree can heal itself. Pruning paint (or orange shellac) can help with that.

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fishin wrote:

I'd agree that a single bolt probably isn't going to harm the tree.

If you want to, remove it and paint over the hole with pruning paint. The biggest issue with removing the bolt is keeping insects from burrowing in there before the tree can heal itself. Pruning paint (or orange shellac) can help with that.

fishin as usual has the right idea I would add puttying up the hole. if you dont want to use a commercial brand linseed oil putty wet some paper with water and an insecticide mixture and plug the hole with that, then pruning or grafting paint/pasteover the top.

A good reason to remove the bolt is that one day someone will want to cut that tree down th4e bolt will be invisible, embedded deep in the wood and it will wreck their chainsaw.

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Bolt still in. I'll get a picture of it in the morning.

ehBeth - Which trees can I get syrup out of? just maple? is maple the same thing as sap? what's sap?

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oh man dadpad I didn't think of that. i'll try your advice..

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echi wrote:

Bolt still in. I'll get a picture of it in the morning.

ehBeth - Which trees can I get syrup out of? just maple? is maple the same thing as sap? what's sap?

Maple is the usual tree however there are a number of other trees that produce a sweet sap. Eucalyptus gunnii (cider gum) is one, silver birch is another there are several acacia species which have a high sugar content as well.

One tree is generally not sufficient to provide enough sap to make the process worthwhile.

sap is the "blood" of the tree and flows up the tree just below the bark. At the right time of year a small incision is made in the bark and sap is allowed to drip into a bucket. This liquid sap is then boiled to concentrate it into (maple) syrup.

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I hope these poor quality images are helpful.

(Thanks for teaching me about syrup!)

http://i284.photobucket.com/albums/ll13/v7chris/041008_12421.jpg

http://i284.photobucket.com/albums/ll13/v7chris/041008_12411.jpg

http://i284.photobucket.com/albums/ll13/v7chris/041008_12401.jpg

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No dramas with that echi. Just whip it out and plug the hole with wet paper sludge so that the tree has a chance to produce its own defense. You can dust over the plug with a bit of all purpose insectiside powder if you have some on hand but dont worry about it too much.

Trees actually compartmentalise damage. They have their own defense mechanism to fight off insect attack so just keep an eye on it and if insect damage appears treat the insect attack.

You only need to fill the first 1/2 inch or so as the rest of the tree will be heartwood which is essentially not alive.

Just thinking... you probably don't even need to fill the hole if you don't want to The tree will probably be fine on its own.

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thanks, dadpad.

Any advice on how to prevent insect attack without killing the insects?

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help me save this great tree!

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