Can I Treat a Tree With Damaged Bark?

It doesn’t matter if your damaged tree is a beautiful, flowering tree or an old, memorable tree in your backyard, bark damage can hurt your tree. The location, depth, and amount are all vital factors when you treat a tree with damaged bark.

Call a Professional

If you don’t know how to treat your tree, or if you feel the damage may be too severe for you to manage, don't hesitate to contact a Rochester arborist who can give you experienced, professional advice. In general, if the destruction to the tree's bark extends under 25% of the perimeter of the trunk in the damaged area, the tree repairs itself with very little help. We will discuss with you if tree removal needs to be an option.

Do Nothing for Minor Damage

There are times you should leave your tree alone after bark damage. A few little nicks at the bottom due to a car or SUV getting too close or a mower are circumstances a tree can overcome by itself. It grows new bark over the scrapes or holes.

Also, trees can heal over large damage areas or grow a barrier that surrounds the hole, a method referred to as compartmentalization, safeguarding the rest of the tree.

Tip:  If your tree has a little wound, get rid of the loose, damaged, or dried bark surrounding the injury until you get to the area where the new bark is covering the damage. If the wound doesn’t heal on its own, call a tree care professional.

Bridge Grafting

For significant damage, you can save the tree by bridge grafting, a procedure of putting healthy tissue across the damaged area. This method is tricky and best left to a tree specialist.

It entails cutting healthy branches and twigs, so they lie flat against the tree's wound, carving a flap into the injury for the twigs and placing the pieces accurately, so the twigs merge with the trunk.

Tip:  Keep examining the area of the wound for the next couple of years after the damage has occurred. If the tree isn’t progressively covering the wound with bark and healthy tissue, ask a tree contractor to take a look.

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