Question about a 'rehomed' maple

[glass_shark]

Hello all, I have this maple that I snatched from a bush about a year ago, its been doing pretty well since then. Nice fat white roots on the bottom last I checked, which was several months ago. Only problem is, theres a spot right at the base where there is some rotten dead wood, and the new growth has formed around it. I picked away at it a while back but its gotten a bit deeper with the rotting, how can i go about stopping the rot? I probably will lower the soil line a bit now that its got some roots established, but is there anything I can put on it to stop it?

Pics attached below

 

[bonsailevel:master]

I doubt there is any way to stop the rot. Water always wins. It will heal over and develop a lot of character. What kind of maple? If it's a native species I would assume it's extremely hardy and will heal somewhat quickly? Enjoy watching the process of healing and learning from this tree.

 

[Kanorin]

Depending on how much rotted tissue there is, you might choose 1 of these 2 approaches.

You can stop the rot by digging out all of the rotten tissue and then fill the hole with some kind of durable material like epoxy or cement. Choose this method if you think the tree can callus over and close the wound. This method will take a few years to cover up a small hole, but could take decades to cover up a large hole.

Another approach involves preserving the deadwood with something like minwax wood hardener, which greatly slows down the decay.

 

[glass_shark]

Depending on how much rotted tissue there is, you might choose 1 of these 2 approaches.

You can stop the rot by digging out all of the rotten tissue and then fill the hole with some kind of durable material like epoxy or cement. Choose this method if you think the tree can callus over and close the wound. This method will take a few years to cover up a small hole, but could take decades to cover up a large hole.

Another approach involves preserving the deadwood with something like minwax wood hardener, which greatly slows down the decay.

I was more thinking the deadwood approach since its more like most of the trunk is hollowed out in that area, I doubt thatll ever heal up. I will look more into this though! Thank!

 

[glass_shark]

I doubt there is any way to stop the rot. Water always wins. It will heal over and develop a lot of character. What kind of maple? If it's a native species I would assume it's extremely hardy and will heal somewhat quickly? Enjoy watching the process of healing and learning from this tree.

This is a red maple, super super common where I'm at in NC. Most of my trees are picked from landscape trees around the city dropping seedlings, or collected from bushes and things at my grandparents house. I like to think of it like I'm giving it a better life, at least thats what I tell my girlfriend when I come home with 2 little seedlings about once a week. Works sometimes.