Patch and preserve a tree

Among Rosalie's dearest possessions is a pink dogwood that has beautified our front yard for more than 40 years - a mere baby when we moved here.

Now it's a veteran of many fallen limbs and bug and worm attacks. A few years ago I sprayed into the holes and rotted places some foam insulation, without believing it would do much good. I assumed the insulation would fall out and the damage would continue.

But the stuff did stay put. You can see it as brown spots in the photo above.

When the Big Wind of '08 hit us recently, it snapped off a large part of the tree and I removed it with a chain saw.

Over the amputation I again squirted foam insulation. It makes an air-tight seal, seemingly one that bugs aren't interested in attacking. Whether it will save the tree is still to be learned.

To make it less noticeable I spray-painted the hardened insulation with a bluish paint, then I toned that color down with some brown spots from another spray can. The color doesn't suit me so maybe next spring I'll cover more of it with gray. Still, from a distance it isn't too noticeable.

Because the tree is so special, I feed it with garden fertilizer each year. That has kept it healthy and radiating pink each spring, and perhaps it will aid in the tree's full recovery.