split in the bark of a eucalyptus - any hope?

medieval knievel

herself's dad has a 25/30 year old eucalyptus in the garden; it's quite large, i'd say maybe 40/50 foot tall, and the trunk is broad enough that i suspect i wouldn't be able to get my arms around it.

it has developed a split in the bark about an inch or inch and a half wide at the widest, about four foot up and a couple of foot long, and the bark sounds 'hollow' either side of it; plus the bark in a couple of spots on the other side sounds hollow, and there are a couple more smaller splits where the trunk splits.

is this the sort of thing which is a death knell for eucalyptus? could part of the tree be dead, but the rest OK, or is it 'in for a penny, in for a pound' with eucalyptus?

i can get pics on sunday if that helps.

cheers!

inishindie · Posted: Fri Apr 29, 2011 9:41 pm Post subject:

I treat them like willow and hazel...chop em down often...They can become a real problem if left too long.. they are quite thirsty trees. They make better shrubs in smaller gardens....

They make great firewood/biomass fuel if chopped, There are loads of other uses too that we don;t really take advantage of here...food,honey,medicine,shade,pulp,furniture.

There's a bit in here about hollowing......

http://www.wildaboutbritain.co.uk/forums/wildflowers-plants-and-tree-forums/22486-eucalyptus-tree.html

A pic would be good....

medieval knievel · Posted: Sun May 01, 2011 9:17 pm Post subject:

inishindie · Posted: Sun May 01, 2011 10:17 pm Post subject:

'Scuse the pun but I'm a bit stumped here.... It looks like the tree has been twisted...How deep are they? I wonder if it's because of the face that the trees love water and we are experiencing a bit of a shortage at the moment...Might be why it's sounding hollow...

More questions than answers from me i'm afraid:) Mind if I pass the pic around to a few friends?

medieval knievel · Posted: Sun May 01, 2011 10:23 pm Post subject:

no probs - the bark is about half an inch thick; at least, i think it is, assuming that's the sapwood which is exposed.

the leaves are looking less green than they did last week. i've heard a few stories of plants not showing frost damage until they broke their dormancy, i wonder if this is a case. i've seen elsewhere (boards.ie) reports of people having lost 25 year old eucalytpuses (eucalypti?)

inishindie · Posted: Sun May 01, 2011 11:46 pm Post subject:

o
Here are a few thoughts.....

Barry- Not sure... but it doesn't sound good.

Andrew - Sounds like it is on its way out!, hollow sound does,nt sound good.

Pam - hope it's not too close to your house. They've got deadly root systems and cause subsidence

Ciaran - Has the soil around it suffered in the recent past ?

Rory - fungal attack...any branches dropped yet? canker....

Barry - Here in San Diego these trees cause major damage. The roots are very small but the trees get gigantic. Winds tip many of them over almost every year.

Catherine - they would naturally grow in water limited areas and then their roots go deep and anchor the tree well, outside of their normal range, in higher rainfall areas there is not the same need to drop deep roots for water and so.... they also gro...w much quicker here in ireland then they do in Oz as they are no longer limited by water access, but then oak grows quicker there than here as they are no longer light limited! I would take a watch and see approach, it may yet recover if disease has not set in.

Linda - Sounds buggy to me.....

Lesley -I have seen a lot of unhappy Eucalyptus after the second extreme winter that we have experienced. Mark O'Sullivan Homeopath dublin is treating trees homeopathically - you could contact him.

Catherine -they would naturally grow in water limited areas and then their roots go deep and anchor the tree well, outside of their normal range, in higher rainfall areas there is not the same need to drop deep roots for water and so.... they also gro...w much quicker here in ireland then they do in Oz as they are no longer limited by water access, but then oak grows quicker there than here as they are no longer light limited! I would take a watch and see approach, it may yet recover if disease has not set in.

medieval knievel · Posted: Tue May 03, 2011 10:29 am Post subject:

cheers - i suspect it's a case of waiting and seeing if it's all gone (some leaves are drying up, but i understand eucalyptus sheds its leaves in summer?) or if par has survived.
he has plenty of seedlings to replace it anyway.