Question
I have a 30 ft tall river birch that sustained all sorts of damage during an ice storm in February. All of the branches were touching the ground from the weight of the ice and two of the branches broke up high. When I was looking to trim them I noticed the tree had started bleeding from branches that weren't visually broken. What are the odds the cells in the unbroken limbs were crushed and will not recover? It's a beautiful tree, but I'm afraid it's going to be a loss and have to be replaced.
Thank you, JT

Answer
If the limbs were not broken they will recover. The leaking is sap that is oozing from the wounds. This is very normal in Birch especially in the spring of the year. the leaking will stop as the weather gets hotter.

I realize that some branches may need to the punned. But green branches pruning of birch trees in spring causes high sap flow, attractive to migrating beetles.  In an area with high incidence of bronze birch borer, avoid pruning.  If necessary, prune in the fall during the tree's dormancy period.  Do not use a wound dressing or paint on the cut this will slow the healing process.

The sap flow may attract borers (an insect that boress into the tree trunk and may kill or cause some damage the tree). The general recommendation is that pruning should not be done from May 1 to July 1. This is during the borer flight period and it has been shown that female borers are attracted to fresh pruning wounds. Wound dressings should not be used; they are ineffective at repelling borers and do not promote closing of wounds. In addition, excessive pruning (more than 25% of the canopy) should be avoided as this increases light penetration to the root zone and can increase soil temperatures and reduce moisture levels. But in your case the snow did some of the pruning for you and caused the sap flow. To be safe I would teat the soil around the tree with an insecticide called Bayer Advanced Tree and Shrub Insect control. This is applied to the soil and the roots transport it to he branches and trunk preventing attack by borers for the growing season. This will give the tree time to heal the wounds.
Check with your local nursery fro this product. Here is a web link to more information on Bayer Advanced.

http://www.bayeradvanced.com/product/Tree-Shrub-Insect-Control/concentrate.html