@treeguy - no professional credentials. I did research doing this thoroughly beforehand though. Read as many articles I could find, and watched several videos made by other arborists, park officials etc.
For instance:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?...
We did consider all the published pros and cons, and decided this was the best approach - you may have a different opinion, and I do understand that.
So far the tree seems to be doing well - no ants or animal damage, no obvious dampness or decaying (from what we can see from the outside of the tree), and the cambium collar seems to be closing a bit so far. The tree has weathered several strong storms and heavy wind this last year with no damage. Time will tell, but so far we are very pleased with the results.
