Learn About Tree Bark Health

Here's what you need to know about your tree's bark, how to keep it healthy, and how to prevent or spot common tree bark problems.

Your tree has multiple layers of bark. As you can imagine, the outermost layer has to be thick and strong to protect the inside of the tree from weather, pests, and diseases. The inner layer of bark is called the phloem, and is used to distribute nutrients to the tree's branches and leaves.

Knowing these functions of your tree bark, you can imagine that keeping the bark intact and healthy is critical if you want your tree to grow strong, get the nutrients it needs, and avoid infections and diseases.

Most of the time, tree bark requires no special care. You just need to keep an eye out for any signs of pests or diseases. However, if you're planting a young tree in a sunny area in summer, the bark may require a little protection if it's not used to high levels of sun.

In this case, you may want to paint the tree's bark white or wrap it with something designed to help the bark avoid sunscald. Young trees may also benefit from having their trunks wrapped in winter to reduce chances of bark damage. Talk to your tree care contractor to learn if this is a concern in your area.

Landscape trees are unlikely to encounter natural predators other than insects, but they can often be inadvertently damaged when you (or your landscaping personnel) mow your lawn. Using a mower or string trimmer near the trunk of a tree is a mistake because it can harm the tree's bark.

Bark injuries can let in infections or even cause malformation that could make the tree structurally unsound later. In addition, the more bark damage occurs, the more damaged the tree's nutrient transport system will be. If the bark is badly damaged all the way around (called girdling), this can effectively starve the tree and kill it.

One common sense way to avoid such damage is to ensure the trunk is set back from the lawn in a flower bed or a bed of mulch. Adding even a small bed of mulch around the tree can eliminate the need to trim near the tree with potentially damaging mowers or trimmers.

In some cases, a tree could develop a canker in its bark. These can appear as a dark, sunken, moist spot on the bark. Sometimes these cankers occur on the bark of a branch, while other times they occur on (or spread to) the tree's trunk. A canker is a type of infection that injures the tree and eventually degrades its structural stability as well.

In many cases, you'll need to have the tree branch removed professionally to keep the canker from spreading. Some experts also recommend using a sealing substance after pruning to reduce the chances that bacteria can get in through the damaged bark.

Other bark-affecting diseases include beech bark disease, black knot disease, Dutch elm disease, and more. Any oozing, dark, sunken spots or odd-looking growths on the bark may be cause for concern, so if you see these signs, ask a tree expert to help you identify the problem.

These are some of the basics you'll need to know about tree bark if you want your trees and their bark to stay strong and healthy. Use this information to become a more knowledgeable tree owner, and contact Baumann Tree, your trusted tree care company, to learn more about professional pruning and other types of tree care.