The Arborists from the Territory & Municipal Services Urban Forest Management Unit in the ACT shared the following recipe that has helped them bring a 200-year-old Red gum back to life after it was poisoned by a tree vandal. Someone drilled holes into the tree & filled the holes with straight herbicide. The tree was showing signs of dying, but the Arborists treated the tree with an antidote & have managed to save the tree.
So what is the antidote? It’s plain old sugar & you can buy it everywhere. “The sugar replicates the nourishment produced by the leaves & begins to nurse the tree back to health.”
Recipe –
- Make a hole every 800mm around the tree to the drip line.
- Mix 20-30gms sugar in 1-litre of water & pour into your holes over an area of 2 square metres.
- Repeat the sugar mix for every 2 square metres around the tree & at least to the drip line (the outer leaves of the canopy), though it wouldn’t hurt to got further.
- Repeat once a month.
- You should notice new foliage starting to grow. Keep the treatment up until your tree is healthy once again.
- Once the tree has regained its health, bake a cake, have a few friends over & celebrate the tree & your good work.
The above recipe was pieced together from the information contained in the following article. You will see I’ve added a couple of things – the drip line & the duration of treatment. These are a guess on my part. If you feel unsure, I would recommend consulting an Arborist. I have not used this treatment myself & have relied on the information contained in the article. http://www.canberratimes.com.au/news/local/news/general/poisoned-red-hill-gum-giant-saved/2185796.aspx
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