Storm damage to forest she oak (allocasuarina torulosa)

[mjhc]

Hi all.
In Melbourne over the last few weeks (like most of the east coast) we have had some crazy winds. This forest she oak got knocked of my bench, I didn't lose any branches but from what I can tell - it scraped the end of my bench on way down and has lost some bark. I was wondering, does the bark repair itself? Is there anything I should be doing to help the tree repair itself?
Cheers
Michael

[Truth]

You'll just have to wait the years necessary for the bark to redevelop unfortunately. Not much else you can do now.

[shibui]

What you are seeing as the bark is just the outer layer. It is all dead so losing it won't hurt your tree. New bark is constantly growing from the cambium layer underneath the bark you can see.
Smooth barked trees shed the older dead bark regularly so they don't get the corky effect. These sheoaks, and some other species, don't shed the older bark. It stays and just gets further out as the new bark forms underneath.
All that means that the bark will gradually be replaced but the damaged parts will always be slightly lower than the undamaged bits because it will all grow at the same rate still.

I had a similar problem with a corky bark Chinese elm. Eventually I rubbed off all the corky bark to get the same level and just let it grow back again. I think it actually looks better after that treatment than if it had been left alone. You could choose to try it with your tree or just leave it and see how it looks in future.

[Rory]

What you are seeing as the bark is just the outer layer. It is all dead so losing it won't hurt your tree. New bark is constantly growing from the cambium layer underneath the bark you can see.
Smooth barked trees shed the older dead bark regularly so they don't get the corky effect. These sheoaks, and some other species, don't shed the older bark. It stays and just gets further out as the new bark forms underneath.
All that means that the bark will gradually be replaced but the damaged parts will always be slightly lower than the undamaged bits because it will all grow at the same rate still.

Couldn't have said it any better.

I had a similar problem with a corky bark Chinese elm. Eventually I rubbed off all the corky bark to get the same level and just let it grow back again.

It is drastic, but as long as you aren't cutting into the cambium, I have done this too. But just take specific attention to the fact that the majority of the missing bark is from the point of the bend upwards, so you could leave the strongly corked bark on the tree from the bend downwards, and just strip the bark from that point up. This will create significant taper. It is kind of up to you which direction you want though.

I purchased advanced Allocasuarina torulosa material before that had thick mossing all on one side, and it had rotted the bark so it was all spongey and rotted underneath the moss. I just got my hand and twisted off all the bark so it restarted again from the same length, and you wouldn't have known there was anything up after a few years.

As mine was so far gone on one side it was more obvious, but on yours it wont be as noticeable in many years to come.

[KIRKY]

Agree with all above, only time will be the cure. I wouldn't remove any bark, i would leave it as it will in time discolour to look more like the original bark making it less obvious. I personally like a bit of hardship showing on native trees
Cheers
Kirky

[mjhc]

Thanks for all the advice guys. It's much appreciated. I'm just going take it back to the same level under the bend and then I'll feed it like crazy and wait for it to regrow down the track. Short term pain. Long term game.