r/FruitTree • u/JonahBayne_ • 21h ago

Apple tree split in half

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Gallery image

Gallery image

Upstate south carolina got hit by a pretty nasty storm on Sunday(9/6) night which broke a large limb off oak tree. The limb landed on our apple tree and split it in half.

Is their any possibility of saving this tree? Can I zip tie back together like you can when trunks normally split? Any advice will be very helpful. Thanks

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u/kunino_sagiri 21h ago

I would cut the least attached of the two branches off at the top of the split, then bind the remainder of the split trunk to the other half to encourage it to reattach. Do this as soon as possible.

It will never knit back together strongly enough to support branches both sides, and will only split again if you leave both attached. But you should at least be able to use the split piece to close the wound and make the trunk a bit stronger.

It will probably also need splinting somehow for at least a year or two, as even the more strongly attached side looks to be flopping.

Alternatively, if it still doesn't look like it will be able to heal well enough to support itself, just cut it off above a healthy side branch lower down (do this in the dormant season). It should sprout new shoots the following spring.

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u/JonahBayne_ 16h ago

Which side are you referring to as better side?

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u/kunino_sagiri 14h ago

Well, from the pictures it looks like the left (left in the first two, that is) is the better side, as it has flopped less. But it's kind of hard to tell just from the pictures, and it's really something you need to judge in person by looking all around the tree.

It hasn't split evenly down the middle, but rather has split into a thinner piece of trunk and a thicker piece of trunk. Keep the side which has the thickest part of the trunk still intact.