I’m told this can’t be fixed. We’ll just have wait it out. See if the tree will survive. Is that the case?
Edit: Thanks all. I’ll replace it and properly protect this time.
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I’m an arborist and I will confirm if it looks this way on the other side too it’s a goner.
https://livetoplant.com/step-by-step-guide-to-treating-girdled-tree-trunks/
In my non-expert opinion, eez dead. A lost cause but I can’t tell if the girdling goes all the way around.
I concur. That’s a thorough and deep girdle
The root stock may sprout, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Unless you got this cultivar for a specific reason and the root stock is demonstrative of the opposite.
As-is, yes, it’s essentially a goner. I would expect the existing growth to die off and a bunch of water shoots to emerge from below the wound. You could try to prune one of these shoots into a new central leader and cut off the old stem. You could try to get creative and cut strips of bark down to the cambium from the section above the wound and graft a bridge across the wound. But I would only do that if there was a specific attachment to trying to save that particular tree.
IMO you would be better off replacing it and getting trunk guards or making your own with aluminum window screen. Getting a healthy replacement planted will get you a healthier and bigger tree faster than trying to save what you have.
