Maple Problems-Can anyone identify

[stihlgotwood]

I'm in south west Ontario and have seen alot of this damage to maples this year and would like to know what it is and how to fix it.
I believe it is called south west disease and what happens is when tree is in winter time(frozen) the sun hits the trunk on the south west side and warms it up enough to split the bark wide open. Not sure if that's correct but i still need to fix the trees so any input would be great.

Can't figure out how to attach pictures.

 

[ClimbinArbor]

when your posting there is a button called "managing attachments" i think..... or host them on photobucket or something and paste the url in your post

 

[ClimbinArbor]

sounds like a job for black duct tape.....

easy, easy boy! im just kiddin

 

[JeffL]

Sun scald.

What type of maple are they, and how large?

 

[ClimbinArbor]

Sun scald.

What type of maple are they, and how large?

what i was thinking......

 

[JeffL]

what i was thinking......

I'm just curious how young of a tree it is, and how thin the bark is that its getting scalded. I pruned a few big Beech this winter that had some pretty extensive scalding damage on a few of the larger diameter branches, curious what caused this maple get be affected.

 

[tomtrees58]

sounds like a job for black duct tape.....

easy, easy boy! im just kiddin

yes that will work tom trees

 

[ClimbinArbor]

someone was ragging on the "tree tape". i looked into and bought some. great for these kinds of applications. very breathable

 

[(WLL)]

I'm in south west Ontario and have seen alot of this damage to maples this year and would like to know what it is and how to fix it.
I believe it is called south west disease and what happens is when tree is in winter time(frozen) the sun hits the trunk on the south west side and warms it up enough to split the bark wide open. Not sure if that's correct but i still need to fix the trees so any input would be great.

Can't figure out how to attach pictures.

sound like frost cracks. just fill with elmers wood glue get them pics up.

 

[pdqdl]

Sun scald occurs because the tree is literally freeze dried where the sun hits the bark. The heat from the sun causes the moisture in the cambium to dry up ("sublimate": look it up in wikipedia) because the water is forced into the atmosphere quicker than the tree can pump more into the area.

This problem is most prevalent in recently transplanted trees, or established trees that have recently been exposed to more sunlight by elimination of nearby trees or excessive trimming.

The exact nature of the problem is often difficult to establish: was the tree too weak from other stresses to keep adequate moisture during the winter? Was it too dry a winter, too cold, or too much sunlight?

Tree wrap is the most common recommendation for this problem. Use light colored tree wrap (in a relatively thick layer, or thin layers done loosely) to reflect heat, and also reduce air movement next to the bark. Dark colored tree wrap reportedly makes the problem worse, not better, by absorbing more heat.

I suspect that watering the trees in a particularly dry winter might help, and a thick mulch layer to keep all the roots from freezing solid will probably help also. Up in Ontario, I imagine that you have nothing but frozen solid ground in the winter, and your trees need to be in good shape at the start. Otherwise, they will have problems.

 

[stihlgotwood]

Sorry for delay

Man its hard to get to the computer this time of year. Thanks for the replies.
These silver maples are on my property and i think they are somewhere between 10-15 years old and the trunks are 9-15" in dia. and trees are 20' tall. I've also seen a lot of this scald all over this area this year - different kinds of maples ranging in size-one was 24" dbh and the customer was told to peel off all the bark as much as she could(from another tree service) Well let me tell you there was no bark left from ground to 10' up the trunk where the main branch union starts.
Anyway i would love to get these pics up but still can't figure it out-if someone would like me to e-mail them and put them up for me then, i could do that.

Thanks again