Split Tree Bark

[mister]

I have a soft maple that developed a large bark split this past winter. The split is about 7 feet high starting at the base of trunk and is about 6 inches wide at the widest point. The bark has pulled away from the tree for at least 50% of its diameter. (You can tell by looking inside the split and knocking on the bark.) I've read that you should cut away the bark around the split area, but I was wondering if this split was too major, or if there is anything else I should do. Your comments are appreciated...

 

[M.D. Vaden]

Looks like a good applicant for sunburn damage?

If that's what caused it, it could be because the trunk was not protected when it first was planted.

Or, another tree was removed that shaded it.

Or foliage or limbs were removed from it, or near it, allowing more sun in.

Is that live callous growth that shows as tan color between the split bark?

If it was sunburn, I'd just peel bark off that comes loose easily.

 

[mister]

There wouldn't have been any protection when it was planted. (The tree was already on the lot when I bought it.)
The hydro crews did do trimming of the tree last fall or winter...can't remember exactly.

I'm not exactly sure of your question, but I'll describe the split.
All of the tan area is the exposed tree trunk under the bark. The thinner greyish stripe in the middle is weathering or discoloring of the exposed trunk. There has been no callousing or healing. I've included another close-up pic.

The split is on the south side of the tree....frost split?

Thanks for your help!

 

[M.D. Vaden]

The sunburn could have happened before you were there, from planting and the trunk being exposed to sun.

Then it can take several years for the bark to start coming loose.

 

[M.D. Vaden]

Here is a photo of 1 of 3 trees in a row, all with the same damage - sunburn.

 

[mister]

Yep...looks pretty much the same. I will remove the loose bark and hope for the best.
Thanks!

 

[treeman82]

It's frost damage. The wood warms up slower than the bark and therefore the bark cracks open when it tries to get back down to its original size faster than the wood does.

 

[Guy Meilleur]

Originally posted by mister
Yep...looks pretty much the same. I will remove the loose bark and hope for the best.
Thanks!

If the bark is "loose"--detached from the wood--for 50% of the CIRCUMFERENCE (not diameter as it was said in the original post), then cutting it away or '''tracing" it may be too drastic.

I worked on a pecan with a similar wound caused by a truck. Much bark was viable though detached. Knowing there'd likely be wood decay either way, I left much of the bark alone. Now 3 years later the bark is still alive and growing, and there's no decay evident beneath it.

I think in time the bark may thicken and meet the wood it once was attached to. If the bark had been removed, I think the wood would be cracking and decaying. So the "Remove all loose bark" rule imo is not always right to do. "Rules are too absolute for Mother Nature" (ANTB by AS, p.452)