A while back my lawn guy severely girdled a young sugar apple tree. It had been severely neglected when I got it, thrown behind a storage shed at the Naples Botanical Garden and was supposed to be thrown out. It was rescued by an employee and given to me along with a few other neglected trees. I nursed them all back to health.
This sugar apple just will NOT be killed I swear. I originally put some grafts over the girdled area, but then had a better idea. Since the tree wasn't grafted, I decided to coat the girdled area with rooting powder, then raise the dirt about 2" above the girdled area.
Well it worked, it's actually had a couple of growth flushes. I thought I pulled all the flowers, but yesterday I found this on it.
The older growth is a bit chlorotic, but the new growth looks pretty healthy. If this apple is any good, I swear I'm gonna air layer this thing, it just can't be killed.
OH - I did pull back some soil and look, there are new roots growing out from the trunk above the girdled area.