This tree is in a community orchard… or, it is a group of apple trees the city planted but doesn’t really maintain. I am one of few people who pick from it. Any idea what may be happening here? Where are these cracks coming from?
Good question. Following.
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People climbing on it agressively?
Could be? I am honestly wondering if it’s vandalism.
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Early spring warm up followed by a deep freeze?
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Is the damage mainly on the South or Southwest side of the tree? Lightning strikes can look like that on shade trees but have never seen it on a fruit tree.
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Not vandalism. I’m leaning towards @snowflake’s thoughts. But it almost looks like the splits trees get when they’re lightening-struck, with the splits following the twists of the grain like that.
I think it’ll survive, but it is scary, isn’t it? In any event, it sure could use a serious pruning and that split up thing is a good candidate for removal!
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I sure wish I could prune it! The city owns it and they come by maybe once every three years and give a seasonal worker who doesn’t know how to prune the job of pruning.
They splits are more on the southern side but not exclusively. Lightening is an interesting theory. Hadn’t even entered my mind! Would the tree look charred if there had been a lightening strike?
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I would expect to see charring, but not necessarily. The immense heat generated by a lightening strike boils the sap and splits the wood, throwing chunks of bark, and often wood, off the tree. I’ve seen big ponderosa pines with 2x4-sized chunks thrown yards from the tree. And there’s a characteristic split that follows the grain down the tree.
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Really interesting! Thanks for the info. I wonder if that’s it then, because there are about 15 trees in that space and this is the only one that is cracked like this. If it was due to freeze/thaw I think I would expect more of the trees to be effected? I don’t remember getting any weather like that this year, anyhow.
A twisting windstorm (F-0 tornado maybe) could do something like that.
But lightening is a possibility. I was watching a bad storm as a teenager out the window from inside and saw a chunk of cedar tree large as a typical canoe or more thrown 60 feet.
(Like car wrecks, not all lightening strikes are equal).
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There was a tornado last year, blew a few trees over just across the river (less than 1/4 mile) from this tree. Straight line winds damaged a lot a of mature trees. That could be it!
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I’m not seeing lightening there… the splits are different ages and are on a branch as well as the central leader.
With the damage on multiple limbs, I’m guessing there’s something wrong with the heart if this tree. Fixing it now will help, but the problem will return.
That too. I think I would be grafting a new tree nearby, and removing this one entirely in a couple years.
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My apricot that is about 10 years old now has some serious cracks/splits and it is getting close to getting the axe. In my case i think it is all due to weather. I’ve noticed when i’ve cut down a few dead limbs on it over the past few years some the rings of growth will be mushy/rotted. Freeze/thaw damage?
As @BlueBerry says- crack on the limb I haven’t seen from lightning. Weird. Mystery!
I suggest to all my friends that they whitewash the bottom three feet of their trees to prevent “southwest injury” but this injury seems too high in the tree for that.
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I have painted trees, and not painted trees. I’m not sure what incremental benefit derives from painting with light or white paint…it’s not significant in my experience.
(But, if you’re moving a tree and know what side was facing southwest, I would encourage turning it the same when replanting. 
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I have used white primer to seal it in. I think construction primer is the cheapest in terms of coverage.
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