We have a very old, very large and very tall eucalyptus tree

Question

Came to us when we purchased the property over twenty years ago. Over the years, the tree dropped limbs of varying sizes, which we simply cut up and burned. We were told that these trees “self prune” and limb loss was a natural occurence.

Last week, one of the very large limbs dropped off. It was attached to one of the two main trunks, leaving the trunk about 3/4 of its original diameter and exposing a rather large area of raw wood.

Question: Is there something which should be done to protect the exposed wood from insects, etc. , such as painting?  Also, can the remaining trunk be supported and, if so, how can that be done? I also wonder if I should cut some of the upper limbs off of the wounded trunk to reduce the upper weight.

I really appreciate any help I can get as both my wife and I love this tree and would hate to lose it!

Thanks,
Doug Korten
[e-mail]

Answer 1

Yes, there are several things that can be done. This article on storm damaged trees has information about repairing trees with damage such as this:
http://essmextension.tamu.edu/treecarekit/index.php/after-the-storm/tree-damage-and-hazard-assessment/repairing-storm-damaged-trees/