Should I save our crab apple tree?

Question

This past October we got hit with a freek snow storm and our area lost thousands of trees. My crabapple tree is slightly damaged . One of the larger limbs is broken off, so should I keep the tree or cut it down? If I leave it it may be very lopsided and may not withstand another storm.

Answer 1

Trees generally recover very well from storms even if they are badly damaged, so keep the tree. We have a crab apple tree and a similar situation happened, within 3 years the tree was back to normal, just give it a chance.

Answer 2

Geez, Don't top the tree, you can tell that was a nursery guy talking. Crabapples will recover from storm damage pretty easily. Once the wound where the limb broke off starts to heal, usually pretty quickly, shave off any dead loose bark around the wound. Take a razor or a sharp knife and trim the bark back until you see green sapwood. If it has a cavity, which crabapples are good at, buy a can of the expanding foam from your hardware store and follow directions. Works just as well as concrete, and a lot cheaper.

Answer 3

Trees do pretty good at compensating and sending out new growth if the vascular system can support it.

The only concern is once the sap starts to run in the spring it may draw insects which may lay eggs in the damaged area. Be on guard for this.

I have heard also of trees that were hollow or structurally weakened in storms and arborists filling these cavities with actual concrete to reinforce the tree. As long as the vascular system is intack and it does not fall to some opportunistic lifeform (insects, lichens, scrambled egg mold), it will be okay.

Answer 4

if you wont to save the tree top it back before it puts out and this will make the tree even fuller than before i have worked in the nursery business for 20 years in tennessee