It's been a month or two now and it's getting worse… Going up the tree and becoming more exposed. I know nothing about trees. I planted this tree 2 years ago and feel it's been doing awesome, until recently. I want to help this poor guy out. Help. I'm in Iowa.
by Beautiful-Warthog776
13 Comments
I would imagine your sprinklers are causing this. I’m not really sure what the answer is, besides get rid of your lawn and replace it with native plants.
You’re gonna get hit with planted too deep and mulch up against the base of the tree
Some types of trees naturally shed bark as part of their growth process. I cannot tell you if this is one of those, but hopefully someone who knows their trees can tell you if that’s the case. Don’t lose sleep or get a replacement tree over it unless a more knowledgeable person says it’s a problem, but do continue to look for answers if you don’t get a response here.
I would also make sure to inquire about your tree stabilizers. Another nugget of wisdom that floats on here is that a tree blowing in the wind will actually get stimulated to grow the roots stronger so it can stabilize itself rather than relying on the aid. The stabilizers can also stunt the growth of the tree in general. [Here’s a little literature on that](https://auf.isa-arbor.com/content/37/5/219). Again, I’m not able to say for sure in your case if it’s an issue, but I want to point you in the right direction of a potential issue if this post does not get seen by the right people.
Oh, [this literature says to remove stakes after one year](https://blog.davey.com/how-to-stake-a-tree-properly-and-how-long-to-keep-it-staked/) (OP said he planted 2 years ago), so more reason to remove the stakes based on literature.
Expose the root flare. Leave the trunk alone
It will be ok! Your tree is healing some wounds which were hidden under the bark. They’re roughly halfway healed. The top level of bark is peeling a bit but the important part is those large rounded bits which will eventually join up to close the wound.
Was this not already there when you planted the tree? It looks like a physical wound that has since healed quite a bit. Probably just revealing itself more as it’s healing up.
Weed whacker scars maybe
Transport injury? Did you bring it home in a pickup truck? ‘m wondering if that part of the tree was balanced on the edge of the tailgate or bed, rubbing the bark and causing an injury to the cambium layers between bark and wood.
Looks like assault by weed hackers. Bad for tree
And get one of those plastic bark protectors
Therea two things that do this. One is planting too deep, especially in cold climate, the bark saturates and cracks.
Another cause is when ants developed their colony at the base of the tree.
Remove the pretty mulch pile on top all the way down to natural root ball… then live by this…. if ya plant low, it won’t grow, plant it high, it won’t die!
1. Stakes should be removed after 1 growing season.
2. Thin-barked trees are wrapped in the winter for first 3-4-5 years.
3. Tree is [planted too deeply](https://imgur.com/gallery/HKr1Odp), we’re on Reddit. Fortunately, a brazillion posts from homeowners exist showing their unburied root flare (often misspelled ‘flair’).
2 and 3 working together to give you this. Maybe it will recover.