Is my tree going to survive?

[u/wadesauce369]

Neighbor hit it and tore one of its main forks in its trunk, this happened years ago, first couple years, seems to have been fine, but the last few I keep seeing parts of the tree that aren’t growing.

Should I remove the limbs that haven’t shown growth this year? Will removing limbs that are healthy (like at the bottom where it’s a pain to mow around.) hurt it further?

Is this tree dying a slow death, or can it be saved?

[u/NewAlexandria]

it needed to be professionally trimmed / worked at the time of the accident. The tree is i a complicated state of health and needs a cert arborist to make a plan for it. Find someone with an ISA cert as BCMA or in TRAQ. This will help you avoid working with 'trust me bro' chumps.

[u/wadesauce369 → u/NewAlexandria]

That sounds pretty expensive, and although I do really like this tree, I’d rather turn it into logs than spend over $1000 on trying to rehab it.

It’s a shame. Me and my dad planted it when I was a teenager. I didn’t live here when the accident happened so I couldn’t address it then when it happened. Me owning the house now, there’s just too many projects that take financial priority over the tree unfortunately. But if I can save it with some self educated pruning and fertilizing, I’ll probably try that.

[u/NewAlexandria → u/wadesauce369]

idk where you got $1000 from. Just call some people and figure a plan before you sell a story in your head.

[u/wadesauce369 → u/NewAlexandria]

In my experience, getting a licensed professional involved in anything these days costs a minimum of a grand lol. But I’ll definitely look into it if it can be an affordable path to saving this tree.

[u/NewAlexandria → u/wadesauce369]

the essence is that you need to trim/cut off the dead stuff including that horrible broken limb that was never cut flush with a chisel — and maybe a few weak branches. But this tree is complicated and online comms could leave much unclear.

[u/a-stack-of-masks → u/wadesauce369]

I'd check some professionals, but keep in mind trees can be fucking gnarly and sometimes the advice is 'put a strap around it and see in 3 years'. Quotes are free!

[u/T1GHTSTEVE]

Purple leaf plum, Primus cerasifera, are generally short lived trees. Most barely make it past 30 years. Once they start looking this bad, they do not recover.

If I were you, I would remove the tree and plant a new one.

[u/Maximum_Brain942 → u/T1GHTSTEVE]

Leave the tree , it is injured but it will be fine.