DESERT willow.

And, no, you didn't kill it. Yes, that is ugly, and while you didn't provide anything to gauge scale, I suspect the tree can close over that wound in a year or two.

We weren't there, but it might be advisable for you to read up on best practices with regard to pruning cuts, etc.

lets see a pic of the whole ...

next time... remove all weight at distance.. maybe 2 or 3 cuts... so that when you get down to the last one.. that requires surgical precision ... you dont have to deal with all the weight ...

ken

btw... its not going to die ... but i question if that will ever heal ...

we need a pic of the whole.. is this the leader.. or a side branch ...

most likely i would figure out a way to go lower.. and get rid of this boo boo ...

ken

Whilst there remains an unbroken vascular passage, life is always still viable. There are dangers of infection, possibly. A few years ago, I snapped an 8 year old peach at the graft union, leaving barely a strip of bark. In desperation, I rammed a broomstick straight down into the rootball and taped the whole graft area with micropore. A year on, the tree was fine albeit with a huge great callous where there was once a fairly neat graft union. Life is very tenacious so don't give up the ghost just yet (although I don't have experience with desert willows (chilopsis?)

I tried to take different angles to see the cut/rip. Please help in layman's terms. I didn't even think of looking online for help until it was already done.

Wound is a bad one, in terms of being of a type-multiple layers of wood ripped/broken, along with cambium and bark, of course. No, the plant will scarcely be affected by this in overall terms. There might end up being a little pocket of decay where this happened-on this stem-but again, individual stems matter less with such strongly multi-stemmed plants as this appears to be, that very worst case, you could eventually lose that stem and have to rely on new growth starting at the base to help fill the thing out. I think in time, if handled properly, it would.

Nothing to be done to dress the wound. Biggest thing is manage things so that this and other bark and trunk-wounding processes don't occur. In that regard, a circle of mulch material-ground up bark, wood chips, pine straw-whatever's available where you are, would do wonders for this plant while keeping future lawn mowers and trimmers further away.

+oM

first ... i am not personally aware of this tree ... and google images is not helping .....will it EVER hit those power lines above ... if so .... move it ... [are you 100% on the ID???]

second .... what form do you want this plant ... i see a very nice plant ... first pic .... involving the right side leader.. which is straight.. true ... and easily trainable into tree form ...

i would cut EVERYTHING else off .... in chunks as i mentioned in the post above ... until you make the final surgical cut ...

trees heal themselves ... encapsulate ... god never intended for you to slather one bright idea you might come up with ... its simply contrary to nature ... [no matter what anybody wants to sell you.. its all voodoo... snake oil .]

if you want it more in shrub form.. trust me.. once you cut off that big hunk ... there will be plenty of sprouts from down low.. come spring .... which you either leave ... or remove ...

a small investment in a tree saw will help.. as common lumber saws dot work well.. on wet wood... something like at the link

when it all boils down ... you experimented.. and learned ... and most likely.. the cut i am talking of... was the cut you should have made in the first place ... as i am going to guess... the root issue.. was its encroachment on the driveway ... and if so .... then you want to take the whole.. and encourage it to grow back toward the neighbors ...

lets do discuss those power lines ... might just be a camera trick ... they look real close ...

ken

http://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/groundwork-flooding-pruning-saw

Thank you Ken! I like the way it's growing and only "trimmed" because it was growing across the driveway. As far as moving it... I'd love too but I don't think I can and I can't pay someone to do it for me. This is what they look like... I love the look of them!

It may or may not heal. But likely won't kill the tree. Proper pruning technique is an essential skill.

Desert willows are tough, not sure if dessert willows (that you probably eat after the main meal) are....but yes, that's some very bad pruning there. The advise given to prevent splintering like that is apt...I've never needed it but then I never pruned my desert willow either. It was planted where it didn't block anything. They don't get that big (for a tree).

Thank you for the link! It really helps a lot and gives me hope. Mine isn't that bad.

They are neat trees. They actually grow very well here in Maryland on a south wall, and should probably be planted somewhat more often.