Our cedar tree was hit by a car some years ago apparently. We did not pay attention unfortunately. Termites decided to make a home under the damaged bark which has spread.
A couple of people thought I should have the tree removed, which I thought I would have to do. But honestly I want to save the tree if possible.
This winter we applied a termite foam on the damaged area in desperation after simply removing the old dead bark by hand. Unfortunately we all got ill with the flu and let the tree sit without further repairs.
Finally a couple of weeks ago I had a friend who thought he could save the tree by chipping off the areas imbedded with termites. Fortunately the termites did not go deep, or at least so it seems. But it still is a significant area, roughly 1/3rd of the way around the large tree.
I sprayed with ozone water a few times while trying to figure this all out, and then sprayed it with orange oil. I chipped off a bit more since I saw there was a little more termite damage than what had previously been removed.
I plan to put tree goop on it tomorrow but wonder if it will be enough.
I also am thinking about cutting off a sucker tree that has grown in the side of the cedar. But wonder if maybe I should wait on that til cooler weather in the fall?? I don't want to stress the tree unduly.
The tree is near a cottage built with redwood with a good cement foundation. Fortunately the driveway is gravel, although there is also some blacktop nearby. There have been potted plants in front of the cottage. We removed quite a few.
I plan on aerating the soil more and see what I can do using the sick tree methods outlined here.
There are some deep fissures at the base under where the rotted area was that I am thinking of dropping boric acid and/or diatomaceous earth into the fissures. The earth there is compacted and hard. It has lots of rocks due to being part of a driveway, which of course was the original problem since it was obviously hit by a car some time ago.
After perusing the Internet I have been tempted to use Dominion 2L that uses a type of nicotine (niclosamide) to kill termites etc. I have also seen both good and bad about Fipronil for termites concerning trees. If it could work without harming the tree it would be great, but of that I am really uncertain since I have read it can kill plants. Certainly its an elegant solution for a house as long as it does not have trees around it or a garden nearby! Of the two the niclosamide is probably environmentally safer, but I could well be wrong.
I'd rather go completely organic if I can since the above modern termiticides are hard on things like bees and cats for instance, both creatures I love--and which populate our private cul-de-sac.
But if I lose this huge tree it will cost uber much to our landscape as well as pocket book, especially since there are electrical lines going high up in the tree, which were put in long ago before I ever entered the scene. Ideally they should be moved, but I really don't know how we'd do it financially this year.
So far there is only one dead branch way up above.
Am thinking of consulting an arborist, but right now tomorrow I plan on putting on the tree goop since I better do something about this pronto.
One thing this tree has in its advantage is that it is a real cedar tree. Plus its old and seemingly otherwise vigorous. I doubt it was ever root bound.
All in all I hope I/we didn't kill the tree in our efforts to save it.
Any advice would be much appreciated. Call me stupid if you wish.
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