Ivy will grow to cover it. You may get a hollow tree much earlier than expected. I remember going inside the Major Oak in Sherwood Forest when I was little. You can't do it now, it is fenced off to protect it. Legend has it that Robin Hood hid there from the Sheriff of Nottingham. I love old Oak trees. Birds love them. They support more insects than any other British tree, and the bats like to nest in the crevices too, and hunt for insects.
Yes, years ago they used to do horrendous things like filling them with concrete! I think the accepted approach is to leave them as much as possible, providing it's structurally safe.
There's a tree in Cambridge University Botanic Garden which (around 60 years ago) had a hole filled with courses of bricks and mortar! It's still there, as are the bricks.
Thank you all for your comments. There are so many interesting trees mentioned. Whilst concrete and bricks doesn’t seem to be a great idea, I appreciate that at least they have tried to save them rather than just take them down.
I don’t want to disturb any wildlife so will not do anything to the tree itself. The blue tits are used to us being around the tree. There is a small deck with a seating area right next to it, the path is right underneath and the wood store which we are still accessing on a daily basis - quite a lot of traffic really. The tree is structurally sound, we also had all the dead branches removed when we first moved in. Listening to the neighbours the damage happened probably at least 6 years ago, it hasn’t change in appearance since we have been here for the last three, no flaking or changing in colour. It isn’t really hollow (at least not yet) it’s more like about 5 cm of bark are gone and the area is completely charred.
I attached a couple more pictures, they aren’t great but might give an idea how close together everything is. The yellow cross is the wood store, the pink the tree and the blue the raised seating area.
I use the little seating area almost every day, just had my morning coffee on it and as it is raised the burned area is right next to it.
The ivy below it hasn’t really done much either in three years, it hasn’t really spread so not sure if it would be an option to take it up the tree. I also don’t want to smother it with something to too invasive. I generally prefer plants in the ground but maybe a planter with tall plant or supported climber to screen it?
@Dovefromabove his name is Watson. My user name is both the plant and a homage to my lovely doggy ☺️
And unfortunately our house doesn’t have a name but there is “oak” in the street name. They build a row of semidetached and detached houses in the 1930’s and each house has an oak tree at the bottom of their garden.
You could put a strategically-positioned tall-ish plant in a pot (or a group of pots) on your seating area by the trellis, to screen your view of the oak trunk without trying to plant or fix anything near its roots, or blocking your view of the upper part of the oak.
Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Soil type: sandy, well-drained
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The tree is structurally sound, we also had all the dead branches removed when we first moved in. Listening to the neighbours the damage happened probably at least 6 years ago, it hasn’t change in appearance since we have been here for the last three, no flaking or changing in colour. It isn’t really hollow (at least not yet) it’s more like about 5 cm of bark are gone and the area is completely charred.
I use the little seating area almost every day, just had my morning coffee on it and as it is raised the burned area is right next to it.
... what OH calls ‘a proper dog’. Are we allowed to know his/her name? 😍
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.