As the saying goes, "once the damage is done, it's done." Once mechanical damage (including damage from weed whackers, lawn mowers, animals, etc.) has occurred to a tree trunk, all a person can do is wait to see if the tree will recover. Tree recovery is dependent on the extent of damage and the health of the tree before it was damaged. Once a tree has been subjected to this type of damage, however, its susceptibility to attacks from insect and disease pests goes up. Therefore, it is important to prevent other potential stressors from occurring at this time--so keep trees adequately watered, avoid other sources of mechanical injury (especially construction work around trees that would damage roots), and consider applying some nitrogen fertilizer in the spring to improve plant vigor. Future elk damage can be prevented by wrapping tree trunks with commercial tree wrap, landscape netting or chicken wire.

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