Many Atlantans recently weathered an all-night ice storm in safe parts of their homes, listening to the "crack" and "whoosh" of ice-armed pine branches falling toward direct hits on roofs, cars and power lines.

With houses and cars repaired and severely-damaged and dangerous trees removed, I’m busy "debriding" (to appropiate a medical term) loblollies of broken limbs and branch stubs. Can anyone tell me if there’s any chance of a loblolly sprouting epicormic growth from a stub cut back to, say, a foot long? I’ve had some success doing this with damaged pecan trees. I’m removing a lot of wood and would like to find anything I can do to encourage resprouting of any foliage that will contribute energy to the recovery process.

Meanwhile, I’m advising clients to install mulch beds, set up a disciplined watering schedule and avoid dragging out the fertilizer spikes and other "tree food." I’d love to hear anyone else’s experiences in treating damaged pines and suggestions for anything else that will help these trees recover. Thanks, Tom

Reply to post by Tom Watson, on March 09, 2000 at 12:30:20:

Although I found no direct reference to your question regarding pruning damaged loblolly pines, with hope of epicormic growth,
there is a wealth of information about this tree at the following site. It seems that insect attraction to killed trees can be a problem of consequence.
There is info about the live crown ratio relating to trunk diameter and lack of taper, the effect of thinning stands on susceptibility to windthrow,
and rooting and soil water effects.

http://willow.ncfes.umn.edu/silvics_manual/Volume_1/pinus/taeda.htm

Reply to post by Tom Watson, on March 09, 2000 at 12:30:20:

Hi Tom --

The general word is that conifers like pines, sprunces, and firs cannot resprout lost crown the way hardwoods can. I understand that the latent buds and meristemmatic clusters die quickly in these genera. I think that is why Shigo never looks at resprouting as a survival strategy, only compartmentalization (see his article "How Trees Survive" which is now on the web somewhere).
My guess is that if the stub you leave has a strong lateral (at least 1/3 diameter of branch), then the lateral and the stub it feeds may stay alive. I have seen laterals continue to grow under such conditions. Without a lateral attached to the stub, however, it seems to me likely that the stub will just die and decay.
Here is an excellent site on the species, with references that may give you the answers you seek.

http://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/plants/tree/pintae/