Drilled a 3/8" hole about 3" deep into the side of a maple tree - in order to mount a screw eye.
Turned out to be the wrong location and now the tree has that hole in it.
What would you do to minimize the insult?
I'm thinking just sterilize a 3/8" bolt and put that into the hole.
??
When you tap a sugar maple the recommended procedure is to pull the spile and let the tree heal itself. Putting a dowel or stick into the hole interferes with the healing and the foreign matter rots.
An arborist may come along with a better answer but I'd let the tree take care of itself. People used to paint the tree with pruning paint after removing branches but that's not recommended anymore. I don't use it and the tree seems to be doing okay.
Leave it alone.
It used to be common practice to tar over the wound caused by cutting off a limb or to pour some sort hardening material in holes. This is now considered not only unnecessary, but also probably harmful to the tree.
Trees have natural mechanisms for healing themselves and preventing rot and disease, especially from a simple wound like the one you described. New wood has already started to grow and other internal processes have already begun.
I quote from just one of the many websites found on the ole' interweb. Granted, they are discussing those large holes that you often see in tree trunks, but the same advice holds true for a small hole such as yours:
"Is Filling Holes in Tree Trunks a Good Idea?
In the past, it was often recommended that filling holes in tree trunks was a good way to correct the tree hole. Most tree experts now agree that this advice was incorrect. Filling holes in trees causes problems for several reasons. The material that you fill the tree hole with will not react to the weather in the same way the tree wood will. The material you use will expand and contract at a different rate, which will either cause more damage to the tree or can create gaps where water (which leads to more rot) and disease can get trapped. Not only that, but if the tree must be removed at a later date, fill materials can create dangerous situations to the person removing the tree. Imagine if someone using a chainsaw were to hit a concrete fill that they were not aware of in the tree."
...or in your case, "Imagine if someone using a chainsaw were to hit a
3/8" bolt that they were not aware of in the tree."
Dont do anything, it will heal itself. That is such a small hole that you wont even see it in a few months. If you're having winter now. you might notice sap running out in a month or so. You could stick a short piece of 3/8 OD steel pipe in it, (like fuel line tubing), and you might get a gallon of sap. (Which will make very little syrup, but it could be a fun project). Google "make maple syrup" for more info....
I think there is something toxic to a tree about copper tubing, so dont use that. ( I might be wrong).
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