Have you discovered that the bark of one of your trees has split open? Then you should act quickly, otherwise it could damage the tree.
Both young and old, robust trees can be affected by the problem. But especially with fruit trees, it happens again and again that the tree bark bursts open over the winter. At least that's what happens to those hobby gardeners who haven't made enough provisions for the cold season. So when the bark peels off, there can be a variety of reasons, but in most cases it's frost damage that's responsible.
Dampness moves into the trunk over the winter and freezes. This can cause the bark to burst open and cause lasting damage to the tree. Fungal diseases can spread or pests can settle.
How to protect the trees?
In order to prevent the tree bark from chipping or bursting open, you should lime your trees in the autumn months. This means a lime coat. This has several advantages:
- prevents pests from settling
- prevents moss on the tree trunks
- protects the tree trunk from strong sunlight
The latter is particularly important. When sunlight hits the tree, it is reflected by the white lime paint. And that's good, because the frost at night and the sun during the day affect the tree trunk and the temperature fluctuations create a strong internal tension. The lime coat now ensures that the stresses are significantly minimized and accordingly no frost cracks appear in the tree bark.
➜ How to properly lime trees
You can buylime paint in any garden store or online (e.g. at Amazon). You have to apply this evenly to the tree trunk in autumn with a brush (surface brush). If at all possible, paint the entire tree trunk up to the treetop.
The paint will be washed off by the rain over the years. So you have to renew the lime coating every autumn.
What can you do if the bark has already cracked?
❍ Apply lime paint
Has the mishap already happened and the barkburst open, you should use a lime coat here as well. Because under the bark the tree can recover. It also serves as a kind of protective layer.
❍ Close Wound
You can also start another attempt and try to press the bark back against the tree so that the "wound" closes. You can then nail them down or tie them to the tree trunk with a cord. With a bit of luck, the tree will manage to repair the wound. Then you have to remove the nails or the cord again.