Reasons Why a Tree Bleeds Sap and What Is Its Implication

Similar to our body’s veins, the vascular systems of a tree carries sap—a sugary liquid that’s packed with nutrients and water, which are transmitted all over the tree with the help of xylem and phloem. Xylem transports nutrients upwards from the roots, while phloem transmits the nutrients mainly on the leaves to some portions of a plant.

The sap is made in the tree’s needles or leaves and is circulated all over the tree via the phloem that vertically runs from the tree’s top to bottom. Once you cut a branch or trunk of a tree, the cut restricts some of the phloem, which allows the sap to bleed out.

The tree’s sap amount differs on the season. In other types, the levels of sap are particularly boosted during early spring. Once you make trimming cuts at that moment, the tree may ooze out some sap. Though there isn’t too much problem with this, it would be great to prevent doing it instead for you to avoid issues to emerge such as tree decline and gummosis.

Best time to prune or trim

Pruning at the ideal time for a specific type of tree is the greatest means of controlling oozing sap. Generally, this indicates that you should prune deciduous trees, which are susceptible to oozing after they have totally developed their leaves during early summer or late spring.

If the cut bleeds after pruning, you just have to leave it alone. Never cover or paint the cut. You can only do that if you have a bleeding oak or elm tree. These species are extremely prone to oak wilt and Dutch elm diseases, respectively.

Based on the claims of the US Forest Service, putting pruning paint is beneficial in stopping those types of diseases. For example, applying paint to the pruned area od a Dutch elm will help stop elm bark beetles from being enticed to the tree. This is extremely a vital procedure to keep your trees healthy.

Bleeding sap tree types

The moment you own the trees below, there is a big possibility that they will ooze sap once they are pruned. To prevent this, guarantee to research the appropriate method and the right time to prune every tree to try cutting it for the first time.

• Walnut (Juglans)
• Poplar (Populus)
• Mulberry (Morus)
• Maple (Acer)
• Linden (Tilia)
• Grape (Vitis)
• Elm (Ulmus)
• Birch (Betula)
• Beech (Fagus)

How to make use of tree sap?

A bleeding sap does not only mean that it’s damaging. There are instances when we could make use of tree sap for good. One of the greatest instances is once the sap is accumulated from the maple trees annually that could be done by tapping the sugar maple’s trunk. The accumulated sap could take up to 50 gallons to have 1 maple syrup gallon. Moreover, the birch tree’s sap could be utilized to create homemade beverages—birch beer, birch mead, birch wine—and syrups.

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