DOG ate my tree!! pics added!!

[smom1976]

I am going to beat the darn out of that stupid dog.. I planted a red maple about 2 weeks ago and it was doing wonderful. It didnt have a brown leaf on it...

he dug it up and chewed it in half it is only about 3 fee tall now.. What do y ou think the chances of it surviving are. I replanted it and gave it good soil again :/ has anyone ever planted just the stick.. and had it survive .. that is really all that is left of the poor tree..

I could have killed the dog right there but my husband is insisting that he still loves it and is going to get it to be better.. on the good side she is nice to the chickens..un

 

[DrakeMaiden]

Well, I can't say for sure. I'm not familiar with the tree and can't assess the damage from here. It sounds like a native tree to your area, so if there are spots on the trunk that could bud out to new leaves then I would imagine that it is possible, depending upon how healthy the tree was before it was attacked. You might want to prune the damaged area, so that it is a clean wound.

If it were me I'd put it in a container and watch over it for a while (where the dog can't attack again), before giving up on it.

All told, I think I'd rather have a dog that attacks plants than one that attacks chickens.

 

[Mossy Rock]

I keep trying to talk my wife out of not cutting down our red maple which is about 18-20' tall she figures if it doesn't have fruit it not good for any thing I keep telling her it a good shade tree and it won't affect any of our fruit trees. We have two red maples one which is 50-60' tall and probally that wide. Your just going to have to wait and see, after you have given it some time you can alway prick the bark with a fingernail to see if it is green and alive. Good Luck

 

[smom1976]

ok so here are some pics...

and here there is a bit of damage to the bark..

let me know what you think now...

 

[DrakeMaiden]

It looks promising.

I'd prune the top well and I'd wrap the torn bark with burlap or any fabric you have handy and keep it moist, this allows the bark to heal properly and you can then remove the burlap in a year or so.

Meanwhile don't over-water the roots, just keep them adequately moist.

And keep the dog at bay!

Good luck!

 

[patandchickens]

Well you know, it is possible it will live, but in all honesty I have to say that it is likely to languish for at least a few years, and then become a rather oddly-shaped tree, possibly with a significant bark defect for a good while (which is a fungus or insect problem waiting to happen).

If this was going to be one of two dozen random trees in a sort of woodlot arrangement, sure. But if this is going to be a specimen in the lawn, as I suspect is the case, and you care about how it looks for the next fifteen years, honestly it might be better to just use up all the Bad Words you can think of and go buy a new one. At least you will get it over and done with, a new one growing properly, and it will not look bizarro for years and years.

Your call though -- it *might* be vaguely rescuable.

Good luck,

Pat

 

[DrakeMaiden]

That's true. It depends upon what your intent is. I personally always try to salvage plants, but that is my bias. If you want it to look perfect you best buy a new one.

 

[Tutter]

I don't kill plants on purpose, I just hate to. Well, there is poison oak....

So I'd get a new tree for the spot, and put the damaged one elsewhere, out of the way, and give it a chance. You never know; but if it doesn't turn out well, you still have the tree you really want, in the spot you wanted it.

 

[rockytopsis]

Is your dog under 2 years old? My dogs did the same thing. Everything I planted they dug up. I think they thought they were doing me a favor. They are now 3 and are doing better.

I have a small container garden in the front yard and when I planted it I told them to leave it alone. Other than the female hidding one of her bones in one of the containers, they have done great.

I have learned to put fencing around things till it gets big enough. Or use a lot of cayenne pepper sprinkled on things.

 

[patandchickens]

I'm currently reading "The Essential Pruning Companion" by John Malins (which despite being British and thus much of the spp irrelevant to anything that will grow here is actually a pretty good book, and not lacking in entertainment value either). I read the following passage and immediate thought of this thread. The following is the caption to a photo accompanying his discussion of ash trees:

"This young tree was chewed by rams when the trunk was 4 ft high. A group of young stems emerged in the following spring. The central and longest was selected, and all the others were cut away. The rams were also disposed of."

LOL

The accompanying photo in the book shows a young tree (4 years after being munched) that is pretty normal looking other than an ugly trunk defect, looking sort of like a graft but obviously it's not.

Clearly this does happen to other people, albeit not just with dogs


Pat