AusBonsai

I was trimming my seiju elm today when I found myself picking away some old cut paste, I did not like the dark patch on the front of the tree.
Do others remove old cut paste?
Does this slow or speed the rate at which the bark rolls over the scar?
Is it common practice to re-injure bark where it is rolling over in order to speed up this process?

This is a good question Gerard and i can only say what my process is. The first thing i learnt was that i put the cut paste on way to thick which causes the wound to rise. i now just put a smear over the wound, thinning it out with my finger so it is very thin. This helps the cambium roll over quicker. Second thing i do (but only on larger cuts) is that once the cambium rollover appears i pick off the skin and expose the green underneath. i find this accelerates the process.

Hi Gerard,
If a wound is healing too slowly or stoped all toghether, scraping away the bark from the edge where its comes into contact with the dead wood within the cut area will help to speed up the process. If the wound is very large you may have to repeat this a few times for it to close over totaly. Each time use a small amount of cut past as in me experience it really dose speed healing.
Bodhidharma is right though that using wound sealent can cause the wound to rise so it is best to couge wood from the wound to make a hollow to offset the rise as it closes over.