Q: I had several branches on the live oak in my front yard crack during the storm. One branch that broke is quite large, leaving a gouge on the trunk of the tree where it pulled down in the wind. Can I pin them back in place somehow, or if I do need to cut them, should I paint the cuts with something?
A: An answer in several parts:
Cleanly prune off cracked limbs at the branch collar of the nearest limb, trunk, or larger branch. Pinning, splinting, or bolting together cracked branches or trunks almost never works, and it’s a safety hazard to boot.
MOSTÂ pruning cuts should not be painted with anything. Clean pruning cuts will heal without great difficulty; just make sure that the cuts are made at angles that don’t easily catch water in the wound area.
LARGE, exposed areas of wood would likely benefit from a wound paint or water-based latex paint applied to exposed wood only, not the leading edge of bark. Wounds generally heal better without any paint whatsoever, but large wounds (especially to the trunk) may take so long to heal that exposed wood can begin to rot.
OAKS, however, are a special case in North Texas. Painting pruning cuts made in the spring on oaks here is generally encouraged to prevent the insect-vectored spread of oak wilt disease. Cuts made in the mid-summer or dead of winter are much less prone to spread this disease.
So, for you, yes please – do use a pruning sealer of some sort.