Repairing broken limb from snow damage.

Hi everyone. I would like your advice...

Today I went out in the yard to assess the damage to shrubs done by our recent snows and I found that my large, beautiful cherry-laurel had suffered a bad split. When I saw it, I had to remove the very heavy melting snow that had flattened it almost completely.

The picture below shows the large branch that's been split at the joint by the weight of the snow. That is my finger there on the branch for scale. This branch is a large portion of the bush, probably a quarter of the whole shrub. Is there any chance of saving it? I've been searching online and not coming up with anything, but thought I ask if anyone has any experience, good or bad, with this kind of thing. The split is close to the bottom of the shrub. Thank you all.


broken branch on laurel shrub ( photo / image / picture from daisybeans's Garden )

 

That is a very nasty break at a very unfortunate place. I find it serious.

I do not think that you can save that branch and I believe that leaving it on will risk further and even more serious damage to the bush.
If water gets in that crack it will cause rotting eventually.
I would suggest that you cleanly remove that branch and see if the bush will heal itself further.

Perhaps my evaluation of this is a bit somber, but it is my experience that these sorts of breaks have a poor prognosis.

 

Yes, Sjoerd, unfortunately, I have similar feelings about the possibility of saving it... but I was hoping someone would have some ideas that would convince me otherwise.

It's deceptive at this point because the foliage looks so healthy and beautiful. I think that picture actually made the split appear less serious than it is. And, it is a very large part of the the bush that I will lose. I am quite sad about it. (I think I will cry when I have to cut it...)

Well, that is part of gardening. Part of the cycle. I was marveling today at the flexibility and resiliance of the shrubs but some things are just too stressful for them to survive. Ugh, darn the weight of this snow. It will fill in eventually and look, now a little more room for some annuals until it does.

Thanks Sjoerd.

 

Thank you Eileen. It is worth a try, maybe. Gorilla glue is easily accessible here. Thank you for finding these sites, I had not seen them.

 

Daisy...you know my concern is not that lovely, big branch actually--it's the health of the bush itself that I am concerned with.

If you left it just as it is and did nothing at all, the branch would probably continue to live and produce leaves. They can survive a long time as long as there is a viable path for some sap to flow. However, all the time disease could be setting in unseen perhaps and bringing the welfare of the whole bush into jeopardy.

Good luck. I think that Eileen's suggestions are worth considering.

 

I know Sjoerd. I'm believe I'm getting hung up on the aestetics. It also concerns me to leave that big of a wound on the bush.

 

Cherry laurel grows vigorously here. They are actually used as hedges. Pruning them seems to be a necessity to keep them from becoming a twenty foot wide by forty foot high tree. Sometimes people trim them up to only a single trunk and keep the top pruned to under 15 feet. Any trimming will quickly be replenished. (I have stumps from a two year project of taking out a laurel hedge that still send up shoots.) Have faith, it will be fine and beautiful in no time after pruning. You might need to prune it further to keep it symmetrical, but not if they grow as fast in your state as they do here. :-? I miss the fragrant flowers, but not the constant hedge trimming. :-D

 

I've had snow break healthy limbs off too many times to count Daisybeans. I'm afraid I'm going to suggest carefully removing the broken limb too.

 

Again, I appreciate all of this input. It seems we are all of the same mind, so that is reassuring.

Netty, as you usually get so much snow, I'm sure you've have to deal with these kinds of breaks a lot. You're right Jewell, the laurel grows fast here too -- this particular bush has never outgrown its space but I do have to keep it trimmed (and the flowers smell wonderful, like candy!).

I was looking again at the picture of the break and wondering if you think I have to cut it below the break, in which case, I'll lose almost half the bush and make it very awkwardly shaped in the base... Do you think I can cut only the lower branch -- the branch that my finger is resting upon in the photo?

Thanks again.

 

My experience is limited to our "past" 20 foot high hedge with up to 10" trunks. I planted it from seedlings more than 20 years ago. (It got away from us) Go with your "gut". The branch will let you know and die back if its not happy and then you can trim a little more. They are one of the most forgiving tree/bushes. Any time I pruned our hedges they just seemed to send out more sprouts/branches. Of course I am a pretty random gardener. Someone may have had different experiences.

 

I liked that glue idea, I never herd of that before but what I was thinking is remove the branch and graft it back on. This is for a fruit tree but I think the lorel qualifies and not only that but I think the technique is the same all together

 

Doughboy, that's kind of an interesting idea too... another to consider.

Jewell, I'm pretty random too... Whatever I decide it will be fine. I kind of freaked out over it when I first saw it.

I was just thinking that this shrub was the topic of my first Garden Stew post... I was trying to figure out how far back I could prune it and I posted my question, got a bunch of replies from Droopy and others, and the rest is history.

 

I would cut it and move on. The glue is interesting but probably won't hold up to the elements. For a neat job remember Gorilla glue expands a lot when drying. Good luck.

 

My bougainvillea has a branch full of flowers that broke and I just pushed it up to lay above the fence and waited for the flowers to die and that part of the branch but it didn't! the branch healed itself! maybe you can try tying around the broken area like bandaging it and just put a support and see if it will mend or heal naturally.