Warning: A park ranger in Olympia told me their old elm was 'too far gone' for cabling

We were chatting about a big American elm in the park, and he said they stopped trying to cable it after a big storm last fall because the decay was too deep in the main union. It made me wonder if we sometimes try to save trees that are just past the point of safe support. How do you decide when a tree is truly a lost cause for structural work?

4 comments

4 Comments

linda_dixon493mo ago

Totally get what that ranger means. Saw a huge silver maple in my neighbor's yard that had a crack you could fit your hand into. The arborist just shook his head and said any cable would rip right through the spongy wood left inside. It's a tough call, but sometimes the tree is just telling you it's done. We had to take it down before the next big wind, and it was sad, but you can't fight physics.

tessa_murray3mo ago

Yeah that "spongy wood" thing is the real giveaway. It's like when you keep trying to fix something that's just worn out, like an old phone with a dying battery. At some point you gotta listen to what it's telling you.

the_jana3mo ago

But sometimes that spongy wood is just a small pocket.

victor7791mo ago

Got a buddy who tried to patch a rotting spot in his boat hull with some marine epoxy and fiberglass once. Thought he'd sealed it up good, took it out on the lake and the whole patch gave way about half a mile from shore. Water started pouring in faster than his bilge pump could handle, ended up having to tow it back with a busted bilge pump and a lot of swearing. I guess that spongy wood thing applies to boats too, you can't just cover up decay and hope it holds.