Q: I have a 'Red Sunset' maple tree that has what looks to be split bark on the south side of the trunk. It is a relatively young tree, and I do not want to lose it. I'm attaching a photo so you can ...

A: With vertical cracks in the bark along the trunk like that, I suspect those are frost cracks. These commonly happen in maples, which are thin-barked trees. Missouri Botanical Garden explains how ...

Dear Dr. Dirt: We purchased a home with two red maples on the north side of the house. They were about 10 years old and about 20 feet tall. Both have bark missing on the south side of the trunk, up to ...

Q: Over the last couple of years, our Norway and Sunset maples have developed long, vertical splits in the bark. These splits can be as much as four feet long. This spring, some of them have been ...

Q: I have a maple tree at my summer home that has a large area of bark missing and the underlying wood is soft. The tree is alive, but I am concerned about the "open wound." This started about two ...

If the bark is peeled all the way around, it does not sound too hopeful that the tree will survive. A tree would have a hard time surviving if such damage went even half way around. This is a process ...