Holy Wire Scars!

raydomz

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Hi all,
I recently purchased a very nice logwood from ebay.
I couldn't wait for it to arrive. Repot, de-wire, and admire!
Until I opened the box and saw just how badly the wire had bitten in...
My question to you all: is there any hope for this poor tree? Is this a 5 year thing? Is it a NEVER thing?
I know I am by no means in it's *optimal* climate, this may become a greenhouse dweller.
I have seen some bad wire bite, but not like this.
For reference, some of those grooves are damn near 1/8" deep (if not more.)
Thanks
DSCN0653.jpg
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edprocoat

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Wow! Thats a shame. I am not familiar with logwood at all, but I think those grooves, uh, those channels are insurmountable! If they would ever grow out it would have to be many, many years. I would ask for a refund from the seller and if he refuses I would at least write a response and use creative descriptive profanities describing his mother, grandmother and family lineage.

ed
 

raydomz

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Haha I appreciate the humor.
Yeah, I can only imagine that the wire I so delicately removed was on there for more than a year. And given the growth rate of a logwood, thats a LONG time.
I am thinking over my options..
 

Poink88

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I wired my Logwood only for a month and it already bit in. I didn't notice it though I am checking it regularly. With the growth rate, those should heal over in a short while. You might have to clean it up a bit at one point though by trimming it to smooth it out.
 

QuintinBonsai

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No offense but that tree looks damn scary. As Ed was saying, I would definitely ask for a refund if available. The scars make me cringe whenever I look at your pictures. Is the trunk badly scarred as well? If not maybe you could do a trunk chop, and start over?:confused:
 

JudyB

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Yowza. I don't think that in your climate, unless you do a winter growing space for the tree, (not just a winter protection space, a real growing environment) that it'll overcome that scarring. I had a logwood for a couple years, and although the trunk was nice, I never really got much going on with branching, my season was just too short. I think these must have a very long growing season in their natural habitat.

And you know what I would tell you to do.... pester that vendor!!!
 

lordy

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Can you show the tree from a bit further away so we can get a feel for the tree from, say 6 feet? And how much did you pay, if you dont mind? My point here is that if it is a younger tree, and it is not too large and therefore not too expensive, I would just let it grow and see where it goes. It might develop into a quirky tree in a few years. There are areas around the world that scarring from wires is not really an issue. It seems to add character I guess, and maybe it could work here. Just a thought.
 

Jessf

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is putting the wire back and letting the tree grow over it an option? I just recently heard that leaving wire on to cause swelling and trunk thickening can be used on JBP. Not the same type of tree I know, but I would have never considered it before. The truck grows over the wire and it's never seen again.
 

raydomz

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Yowza. I don't think that in your climate, unless you do a winter growing space for the tree, (not just a winter protection space, a real growing environment) that it'll overcome that scarring. I had a logwood for a couple years, and although the trunk was nice, I never really got much going on with branching, my season was just too short. I think these must have a very long growing season in their natural habitat.

And you know what I would tell you to do.... pester that vendor!!!

Vendor - emailed.
As it is now, I do have a greenhouse that it was going to be kept in over winter. I'm just a little pissed because there was no mention of this very obvious fault in the listing(I don't know why I keep thinking ebay will be good to me.)
 

raydomz

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Can you show the tree from a bit further away so we can get a feel for the tree from, say 6 feet? And how much did you pay, if you dont mind? My point here is that if it is a younger tree, and it is not too large and therefore not too expensive, I would just let it grow and see where it goes. It might develop into a quirky tree in a few years. There are areas around the world that scarring from wires is not really an issue. It seems to add character I guess, and maybe it could work here. Just a thought.

I will go out in the yard and take a shot right now..
I like quirky/weird, but this is well..just plan horrid.

is putting the wire back and letting the tree grow over it an option? I just recently heard that leaving wire on to cause swelling and trunk thickening can be used on JBP. Not the same type of tree I know, but I would have never considered it before. The truck grows over the wire and it's never seen again.

I thought about this. But there are no scars on the trunk, in fact the trunk is a beauty, it's ALL of the branches that have the scars. and I'm not sure if that practice would mean death to this species or not. I'll keep it in mind though.
 

raydomz

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*See Below*
Maybe in ten years the character of the branches would come to resemble the character of the trunk?
DSCN0656.jpgDSCN0659.jpg
 

Brian Van Fleet

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I heve never worked with logwood, but honestly, it doesn't look that bad. Wire is supposed to dig in, in most cases, to ensure the branch holds. If it was a beech, I would be concerned (and maybe logwood falls into the slow-to-heal category), but most of my trees will look like this when the wire comes off...or else it came off too soon.
 

jkd2572

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If the branches have gone to the right position than it worked. That tree is from the wild with a great trunk. Keep it and work on development. It grows year round being a tropical. It will heal twice as fast as most trees. Good lord look at that trunk!
 

JudyB

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Yah, that is one really nice trunk. Even if the branches don't heal, you'll still have a great trunk to work with.
 

fore

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I heve never worked with logwood, but honestly, it doesn't look that bad. Wire is supposed to dig in, in most cases, to ensure the branch holds. If it was a beech, I would be concerned (and maybe logwood falls into the slow-to-heal category), but most of my trees will look like this when the wire comes off...or else it came off too soon.

Really? I thought you were supposed to pull the wire off as soon as you see it's biting in. Interesting Brian.
 

rockm

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Leaving the wire on until it scars the branch is a technique that can force reluctant branches ot stay in place once the wire is removed. It can also lend some aged appearance to limbs. That's the upside, the downside is that wire can also kill off branches if left too long. That can depend on the wire and the species its used on however.

I bought one chinese elm that had long grown over an entire wiring job. The wire was encased by the tree's limbs and had become invisible. Tree didn't seem to mind. Some of the branches has those spiral marks, but most had blended in to varying degrees. The scars weren't very noticeable and got even less so over the years.
 

Brian Van Fleet

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Really? I thought you were supposed to pull the wire off as soon as you see it's biting in. Interesting Brian.

Really. Best to get to it just before it's half-buried. +/- based on species' growth rate.
 

Poink88

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Leaving the wire on until it scars the branch is a technique that can force reluctant branches ot stay in place once the wire is removed.
Just wondering if this is the case or the branch sets because at that point, it already grew so much.
 

hiland

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Japanese maple with scars

I heve never worked with logwood, but honestly, it doesn't look that bad. Wire is supposed to dig in, in most cases, to ensure the branch holds. If it was a beech, I would be concerned (and maybe logwood falls into the slow-to-heal category), but most of my trees will look like this when the wire comes off...or else it came off too soon.

Brian,
I have a large Japanese maple that has several limbs with scars similar to the picture :-(
The wires were left over the winter.... yea it was a dumb thing. I'm crossing my fingers that it will out grow the scars. Any idea how long?
 

nathanbs

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This thread has interesting timing as Elliott (another forum member here) and I were just talking about logwoods and how when he bought one from the Internet it showed up with huge wire scars and the seller told him that it was normal and that he was crazy. They got in an eBay feedback stalemate as you could do years ago before they changed some of their feedback rules. Don't remember the final outcome but just thought I would let you know you are not alone. In tropical weather logwoods grow very fast so one has to be careful about wire biting in. I would have to disagree and say that this is way too much biting than normal. I don't think anyone should now start letting their wire cut in this deep. I would say when the wire just starts biting is ideal, if a branch doesn't hold then re-wire opposite direction or in a slightly different path. Some species will never fully lose the ghost of wire scars so it is not good practice. Deep biting on on a young trunk or branch when they are going to be allowed to grow significantly larger is an exception
 
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