its a zen decision ...

either you can ignore it.. in which case you probably wouldnt be posting ...

or it will drive you insane ... of which.. you might be leaning this way.. lol ... if so.. be done with it..

a third solution.. is to remove the lawn .... and add about 100 conifers around it ... so you can quit focusing on it .... which of course.. is what many of us do.. lol ...

on my 5 acres .. if this were out back.. where i saw it once or twice per year ... i mean really focused on it ... it could stay ... its not going to kill anyone ... but if it was where i saw it every stinking time i walked out the door.. it would go ...

i doubt it will ever heal ... but being a cedar.. its inclination would be to not rot very fast ....

will you enjoy observing the mysteries of how mother nature will deal with this.. or do you have a hate on for her and that stinkin buck???

ken

Ken, I'm getting to the point where I can predict your answers to my posts : )

This tree is the centerpiece tree of my front yard. I do look at it every time I pull in the driveway or walk out my front door. You would be right in assuming it is driving me nuts. As you said, if the tree were back in the corner of the property, I would probably leave it and see what it does.

I fully intend to remove the lawn around the tree and add a nice collection of dwarf conifers . . . only time and financial constraints have hindered me!

there is some advantage to continuity ... lol ..

bottom line.. its alive ... and you dont have many others.. so enjoy it.. and plan for its dismissal.. but for now.. its better than a sharp stick in the eye ... [wink, wink, ouch]

i am with you on the budget part ... if only my dreams had some basis in reality ...

try to work in one more conifer.. and plant it in front of it.. so you can block the view.. and forget about it ... something like daubs frosted 6 to 8 feet in front of it .... gold lace is a variation.. and i think saybrook gold ... all in the juniper family ...

ken

Here is a link that might be useful: on the SEARCH side ... apparently only joy would know its proper middle name.. lol ... as every place it seems to be different ... media.. chinensis.. spitz-eria ...

First it was Juniperus chinensis 'Daub's Frosted'
Later on it was Juniperus x media 'Daub's Frosted
Now it is Juniperus x pfitzeriana 'Daub's Frosted'

All this is done to make it easy for us... ;0)

===->>>>> SEE!!!!!!

lol

ken

Yes, it will callus over, but it will take a long time to do so, I'd guess somewhere around 10-15 years for complete coverage.

Worth giving it additional protection from further deer damage.

Resin

Nothin' wrong with a little character on a tree.

Resin is probably right, but I wonder how much energy the plant is going to expend on healing now versus overall growth. I think on certain deciduous trees this much bark damage would spell curtains - with the notable exception of certain Japanese maples. The more vigorous ones have an almost cyborg-like ability to self-heal. I once cut a huge gash in a side branch with a ROPS. 2 years later it was about 50% covered over, and by now there's little evidence of what happened. (of course, the same is probably true of other maples)

This post was edited by davidrt28 on Tue, Mar 12, 13 at 11:38

That conifer gets to be a big robust tree.
In time it will heal itself.

I like the idea of adding dwarf conifers to compliment the Cedrus libani var. stenomoca as time and finances permit. Sounds like a plan.

{{gwi:641358}}

Davesconifers

davidrt28: I have a 'valley forge' american elm planted about 35-40 feet away from this cedar; it had a large limb break off in a wind storm leaving a large wound (top growth was too heavy/lush for its own good!). That one healed 75% in a matter of two growing seasons, which is why I asked about this cedar tree. I didn't know if it would take a couple years to recover from the loss of bark and then heal quickly over the following 2-3 years.

Since the true cedars tend to be slower growing than others, and this tree will continue shunting energy from growth into healing, I will probably remove it this summer or next. If the answer was "give it 5 years and it'll be as good as new", then I would have considered leaving it. Thank you all for the advice.

My goal is to have a beautiful specimen cedar tree in the middle of my front yard - even if my grandchildren will be the ones to see it at its best/mature form. However, I would like to see the tree get as close to that potential as is possible during my lifetime!

I have a seedling C. libani var. stenocoma potted up in my "tree nursery". Perhaps I will plant it next to this one and remove the damaged one once the young cedar overtakes it in height?

Davesconifers - money and time willing, the gentle slope you see behind the cedar in the picture of the entire tree will someday be a nice dwarf conifer bed!

Nasty, but it should eventually heal -- as long as it doesn't get another rub. But it'll slow the growth of your cedar for a yr or two. Several trees of mine have recovered from similar rub wounds.