Eucalyptus Nicholii help please

My cat Percy used the trunk as a scratching post 2 years ago. As it was round the back of the shed it wasn't immediately obvious but eventually the bark developed a split about 18 inches long and revealed what looked like a broom stick inside.

I wrapped some fleece round it and tied it in place for the winter, left it last year and noticed this year that the string was tight up against the bark so i removed it all and found it had almost repaired itself.

What has happened is that the bark has sort of welded itself back together and forced the broom stick part onto the outside, like a broken leg with the bone sticking out and the flesh has healed.

The broom stick type thing looks dead as it has snapped in places but the tree is fine. In fact it has put on more growth in the last 2 years than before Percy came along.

Any suggestions as to what to do now, ie leave it as it is and let it fend for itself? Shall i wrap it up again this winter?

 

I reckon the layer just under the bark (cambium or some name like that I think) is transporting the nutrients and water, and the inner core (now sticking out ) is just the old, now "dead", wood ... so I reckon it should be fine. Don't know if it needs covering though ... presumably eventually the trunk will re-absorb that heartwood back into itself as it expands in diameter.

Might be some weakening / loss of strength as a result? which might be something to watch out for until sufficient new heartwood, inside the bark, has developed?

 

Ah thanks Kristen. Isn't mother nature wonderful? I might wrap it in fleece this winter just to be safe. When the split first developed i was going to dig it up and i got a new one to replace it and planted it about 4 feet away but i never got round to digging the old one up. Glad i didn't now as the newer one has got redish leaves all over. It's still juvenile though so may be the norm.

 

I find it amazing the way it has coped! Hopefully it will be fine right through into adulthood.