This is the beginning of the second year my Black Tartarian Cherry tree has been in the ground and I am finding about 12" up from the graft the next 8 to 10 inches has the bark peeling off about half way around the trunk. This is on the north side of the trunk. Any idea why this is happening? Frost damage, sunburn or something else? I have pictures if that will help. https://photos.app.goo.gl/KWahtsU72HykM2268
https://photos.app.goo.gl/5FgTGGZsQFBqhLt16
Just take a photo of your smart phone and upload them. No need for photo bucket.
Maybe it is because I am new to the site, but I don’t see an option for direct upload of photos. I did edit the original post with links to a couple photos of the tree.
When you reply a message , answer a post, or post a message. On the bottom right there is a pink box with the upload tap with an arrow pointing up. Click it and it will give you an option to use a Camara to take an instant photo or file to get the photo you have safe in your phone file.
Looks like winter kill to me Leroy.
I think the direct upload option is restricted for new members to undercut spam and such -is that right?
That damage could be from a buck rubbing their antlers on it, very common if you have deer in the area. I have half a dozen trees that got that treatment last winter. The only other thing I can think of is the tree is dead.
Re: uploading photos, new members can upload photos, the number may be limited though.
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The tree isn’t dead yet. You can see several buds that have broken dormancy in the first picture. That particular section of the tree seems to be dead, but so far the south side still seems to be alive. Do you think the tree will be able to heal and recover from this or is it inevitably going to die?
So I’m thinking Andy is correct and this is frost damage or winter kill. From what I have read about winter kill is that this tree may last another couple years but would most likely eventually die from this damage. I’m noticing that just below the white tag on the tree is a branch forming. Would it be a good idea to cut the tree back to just above that branch so all of the frost damage is removed and let the tree start over from that branch? I’m just looking for ideas on what my best options are to try saving this tree. I seem to be getting a decent number of views on this and my Contender Peach thread, but not getting many comments to help me decide what to do with these two trees.
It could be that many people including me cannot open the link you provided to see the pictures. Please post your pics directly on your post. With pics, people may have a better idea what has happened to your tree.
How cold did it get there last winter? If you are in 6A I would doubt cold damage and suspect that it is a buck rub like Scott suggested. It might heal over time, but if you have the patience to wait longer for fruit, I would cut it down to just below the bad area and let that new shoot take over.
Agreed I’m in 6a Michigan and it was not even close to cold enough to hurt trees.
Looks like deer damage to me. If not girdled, the tree should recover. Protect young trees from deer/
Hard to say what to do. We don’t want to give you bad advice, as we can’t evaluate the tree well with only one picture and the top of the tree is cut off, we need to see all of it from every side. And we still might not have any good suggestions. In this case I would assume deer damage and if not completely girdled, just ignore it and prune how you plan to anyway.
On your peach tree I would try and develop the water sprout into a new central leader. I would head it and try to get it to form scaffolds. With peaches they might not sprout new branches on lower nodes. So cutting it back could kill it. You need to try and work with the water sprout. I like peaches with open centers so eventually the central leader will be removed when i do it.
There were a couple days in January that the temps dipped below 0 degrees F, other than that it stayed in the low single digits up to mid 30s most of the winter. I can directly upload pics now so here are a few.
The two on the left are Black Tartarians and the one on the right is Ranier. The tree with the damage is the Black Tartarian that is closest to the road. The Ranier is to the north and the damage to the Tartarian is on the north side.
A little closer to the tree so you can see where the damage is and see the shoot I referred to below the white tag but above the graft
Close up of the damage
A couple pics of the tree above the damaged section
These are in a high density planting. Cutting this one back will mean it will have to play catch up to the other 2 and I will have to prune the other 2 to limit their growth to give it time to catch up. If the damage will heal and is not life threatening to the tree I’d rather not cut it back. The tree has received a treatment with Bonide Copper Fungicide spray in an attempt to keep fungus from getting in the wound. Ultimately I want the tree to have a long healthy life producing fruit so if cutting it back and letting it start over is the best option for that then that is what I will do.
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You would have to be south of -15F for cold damage.
Bonide liquid copper is too weak to be good for anything but mildews. You need Kocide.
Photos are much better. Looks like deer did that to me.
Thank You. I will look into Kocide. In my peach thread you can see in the background behind the boat and trailer that I fenced around most of my trees, but ran out of time and fence before I got to the peaches and cherries. I’ll get those and the new trees planted this year fenced while I am up there this summer.
Yes that is kocide. With the better pictures I agree with Drew that it is some sort of physical injury and that likely means deer. You can see some strands of wood hanging off (looks like fat hairs) in one of the pictures and its basically impossible for anything non-physical to make that happen.
Deer love that size of tree to rub their antlers on to get the velvet off. Normally the tree will recover. I have several that have had that happen to them.
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Thank You things are sounding promising that the tree will recover so I am just going to keep an eye on for now and see how it does.
On your post #12, the first picture. How far apart are those trees? They look mighty close to one another.