Graffitree

September 17, 2016 11:30 AM

How do I cover up graffiti on exposed heartwood of a live tree in a way that won't harm the tree and is dark enough to discourage such defacement again?

I take the broken windows theory very seriously, so I don't want the graffiti that's there to sit and provoke further tagging of the tree. Leaving it alone is not an option.
Tree in question: A giant silver maple in the parkway* in front of my house. It has a large, well healed wound with exposed heartwood at eye level. The heartwood is bleached and cracked in places, but the tree is multi-trunked and robust.
Graffiti in question: Both a sharpie scrawl "joy is never cruel mrerherhf" and some powder based spray paint. I can get the spray paint off, but I believe the sharpie can only be covered.
so,
What coatings can I use that are safe for the tree and won't create a nice blank canvass for further jackassed decorating?
I am open to arting it up somehow to deter would be tree vandals, as that seems to work with murals on all the viaduct walls around here, but I'd prefer a neutral, quietly effective deterrent.
*parkway=treelawn=devil's strip, or whatever, that odious piece of land that is the city's property and my responsibility.

posted by Cold Lurkey to Home & Garden (22 answers total)

This may not work on a tree, but it's worth a shot. Sharpie ink is very soluble in alcohol. Do you have a first aid kit with some little alcohol wipes in it? If you scrub with those you may be able to at least lighten the sharpie, and I doubt the little wipes would hurt the tree.
posted by telepanda at 11:45 AM on September 17, 2016

Yarnbombing it would be safe, but not neutral.
posted by janell at 11:45 AM on September 17, 2016 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: i tried isopropanol on it, but the ink is soaked into the very porous wood.
posted by Cold Lurkey at 11:48 AM on September 17, 2016

Heartwood on a tree is dead, so you can probably sand off the sharpie graffito. Use a fine sandpaper so you don't visibly roughen the exposed heartwood. Sand evenly, so you don't leave an obviously sanded place.

Don't use a solvent. There's living tree next to that heartwood.

If it's in the parkway, isn't it the City's responsibility? What do they have to say about it? It' possible that they wouldn't have as subtle a touch at repairing the tree as you might, so bear that in mind.

Can't protect it against jackasses, unless you want to go to extremes.
posted by the Real Dan at 11:49 AM on September 17, 2016 [5 favorites]

Go with the grain on the exposed bleached and cracked surface using stiff wire brush, I would avoid coatings of any kind.
posted by hortense at 11:52 AM on September 17, 2016 [1 favorite]

Can't you tar it? Isn't that what tree surgeons use to protect exposed parts of a tree? Hum, Google isn't helpful. It LOOKS like tar! You definitely can't graffiti that, and it'll just look like someone treated the tree to make it better.
posted by ClarissaWAM at 12:24 PM on September 17, 2016

Googling turns up a product called Tree Bandage. It says it can be used to cover old wounds, not just fresh ones.
posted by Michele in California at 12:32 PM on September 17, 2016

Before you do anything, contact your city and ask to speak to their arborist. They may have a protocol they prefer you to follow.

In my city, the arborists worked for the parks department, but sometimes they get stuck in the streets department.
posted by SMPA at 12:39 PM on September 17, 2016 [4 favorites]

Tree bandage-type products are generally discouraged in the literature I've read (which is not comprehensive). I'd go with mechanical removal, i.e. sanding/scraping/wire brushing.
posted by jon1270 at 12:55 PM on September 17, 2016 [1 favorite]

I am another vote for tar. Not only does it nicely seal the wound, it's also graffiti proof.
posted by Chocolate Pickle at 1:24 PM on September 17, 2016 [1 favorite]

I have experience with "tar", both the tree-bandage type and the petroleum based type, and I agree with jon1270. I wouldn't use either one. Mechanical removal is the gentlest thing to start with.

The tree-bandage tar is often a sort of water-based latex material that dries into a rubbery coating. If you are familiar with tree growth, you know that the living tissue of the tree bark gradually encloses any exposed dead wood, and will eventually cover the wound. Believe it or not, your tree is almost certainly increasing in diameter year by year.

I've cut into trees that I had applied this bandage to in prior decades, to the ends of cut branches (sometimes quite large branches), and the tree-bandage seems to prevent the living tissue from bonding well to the dead cut end of the branch, making a weak place. I encountered this while splitting wood: the log would split clean apart where I had applied the patch. In other branches that I had not applied patch, I could only discern the cut end of the branch by the change in the grain (and the fact that it was hard as hell to split because of the entombed stub of a branch in the log).

Applying tar to the tree might be undesirable in several ways: the tar has petroleum volatiles that are as bad as solvents for the living part of the tree, and might prevent the wound from being enveloped by the tree entirely. I'm relatively certain that you would have the same adherance problem as you would with the tree-bandage material. In the summertime, the tar is likely to run in an unattractive way.

Finally, the appearance of tar in place of silvery or gray heartwood is an affront in itself.
posted by the Real Dan at 2:14 PM on September 17, 2016 [2 favorites]

Response by poster: I assure you the graffiti is a worse affront.
posted by Cold Lurkey at 2:30 PM on September 17, 2016

I'd get one of those flexible sanding "sponges" and sand off the offending graffiti.

If you would like to darken the wood to make it less of an attractive canvas, you can ebonize it with a steel wool and vinegar solution.
posted by Ostara at 2:45 PM on September 17, 2016

In support of what I and The Real Dan have suggested, a Google search for "tree wounds extension" produces article after after article that says tree wound dressings are problematic, can inhibit healing, increase the likelihood of decay, and are not recommended in most situations.
posted by jon1270 at 2:50 PM on September 17, 2016 [2 favorites]

Any type of dressing out tree repair is over thinking it and likely to create a bigger eyesore. Just get some mid grit sandpaper and lightly go over it until it's illegible, it will take like two seconds.
posted by Think_Long at 3:48 PM on September 17, 2016

Maybe try beeswax to protect the tree from writing--wax is pretty resistant to artist media making a good adhesion; generally the top media can be wiped right off, including sharpie. I would rub the wax in while the weather's hot in thin layers; the grain should be receptive if it's that porous. It will also be pretty discreet so at to not attract further notice as a writing spot.
posted by effluvia at 8:37 PM on September 17, 2016

Heartwood isn't alive it is the layer just under the bark. You can sand it off, then stain it to the color you like, then varnish the heartwood, so it is easy to clean if dopes do it again. If you go a little darker ,then sharpie artists don't have enough contrast to make it entertaining.
posted by Oyéah at 8:41 PM on September 17, 2016

Response by poster: Thank you all for your responses thus far. As of right now, i've taken a hybrid approach to deterrence: sanding down the offending marks with the fine grit paper I'd had on hand under moonlight*, and piling up the dead but still pointy thistle and holly bushes I'd pulled from elsewhere earlier at the site of incursion.
While that's done, it's not sustainable, so I'm still very much interesting in hearing about long term solutions to preventing additional defacement of the tree.
I'm now thinking to seed the thistle around the tree and thus try to keep people away from the tree by brute force. This may crimp my lawnmowing style, but so be it.
*it was not two seconds, more like 5-10minutes. Sharpie is a bitch to sand out.
posted by Cold Lurkey at 9:36 PM on September 17, 2016 [1 favorite]

Our city has an art project called something like "sweaters on trees". People knit specifically for a tree, or, use an old sweater or afgan that they sew around the tree. You can see if anyone does that where you are, or get an old afgan and do it yourself. Be prepared for the city to take off in the spring, but can help for a while.
posted by 101cats at 10:26 PM on September 17, 2016

Tar. Good for free wounds, very discouraging to would be artists.
posted by BlueHorse at 11:08 PM on September 17, 2016

I see you already sanded; for anyone else wanting to do something similar, just be careful to not hit the live callus tissue around the dead area. Don't paint with wound dressing or tar or pruning paint or whatever people are saying here. It's a bad idea 99 times out of 100 unless you're dealing with particular species at particular times of year that are susceptible to particular issues. Painting wounds is not helpful to trees, especially silver maple; that stuff keeps it moist underneath and promotes decay, and silver maple is already terrible at resisting decay. Sanding or mechanically removing it won't hurt it at all, as long as you don't damage any of the live tissue around it. Solvents and other shit will run into the roots and potentially injure it.
posted by Red Loop at 7:39 PM on September 18, 2016 [3 favorites]

Walnuts can allegedly be rubbed onto dings or scratches on table legs etc. Maybe that'd work?
posted by Happy Dave at 6:50 AM on September 19, 2016