Hi,
I have a tree in the yard that's very large and close to the house. It's
still living and a viable tree. I have many very large trees close to
the house that could fall on the house if left long enough or if they
were to be ravaged by disease.

The one in question has a hollow section near the ground that has some
insect damage and a resulting hole in the trunk, but right now it's
growing great and I'd like to fix the damage if possible to stop any
further damage from happening. I'd like to do this so that I either
don't have to look at taking the tree down in some years or having it
fall on the house due to disease.

I saw a product sold at the various home stores. It was some kind of
pruning sealer. On the back it tells that if you want to seal a cavity
in the tree to do something such as fill it with xx amount of portland
cement (I may be wrong on specifics cause I don't have the product in
front of me, but maybe some of you know what I'm referring to) and put
it in the damaged portion of the tree (pack it).

Does anyone think that this is a good idea? Has anyone done this sort
of thing before. I know that the proper thing to do would be to call a
professional, but I have so many jobs at hand to do that anywhere I can
save a buck or two will ultimately help me with some big projects that
I'm going to have to do/have done.

What about the insects/insect damage in the tree. Do you just seal that
over, or do you do something to it before you pack the cavity with that
stuff.

If I can just save the tree a few more years to buy time as compared to
if I'd done nothing, I'd be happy. by then, I'd have more of the stuff
done that's a higher priority.

Thanks for your help,

Danny