Higand cherry bark split (long post, many details)

seamstress

The particulars....I'm providing a ton of details because I never had to care for grafted, weeping-habit trees before I moved into this house. Hopefully the more details I provide, the easier it will be for the more experienced folks to help. Although I don't have a horticultural degree, I will comfortably claim I've accumulated a lot more knowledge & experience than the average homeowner.

Location: Southeast Michigan, Detroit suburbs. USDA zone 5/6.

Tree is on south side of house. Split is on SW side of tree...smack-dab on the SW side. I could set a compass by it. First noticed this spring (April), mostly the thin gray surface layer of bark was split with some involvement of the layers right underneath the bark; now it seems to be getting deeper. It is possible the split started earlier than this spring and I just didn't notice. The split seems to be going deeper faster than it is going wider. This is what worries me.

This past winter was exceptionally long with more & longer periods of harsh cold weather than any winter since Feb 2002 when I moved in. Nov 2008 was unusually colder than normal. My heating bill that month was close to what a January usually costs me, so I know we had some harsh weather early in that winter.

PHOTOS: The blue arc is roughly where the canopy was when I moved in, Feb 2002. The red arrow is the graft point. As you can see, it has grown a lot since then. I have pruned conservatively, mainly to remove obvious crossing branches, suckers at the graft, and branches that grow towards the structure. I also pruned to control horizontal growth, otherwise I'd be whacked in the face whenever I opened the front door. My aim was to keep the lower area somewhat open (around the trunk) to preserve the airy, arching appearance and also to keep it easier to cut the grass & get to the plantings underneath.

On chemicals--- My tree has been left alone for the last eight+ years I have lived here. I have spot sprayed lawn weeds as needed. I pay attention to guidelines that say herbicides are dangerous.

Was I wrong to allow it to grow so tall? I was mostly concerned with preserving the arching habit. If I didn't prune it, it would have been blocking the front door by now and also would have a lot of lower growth making it look more like a giant shrub than an arching tree.

Regarding the split...is there anything I can do to mitigate the damage?

Jeff Darby

Hi,
You mention pictures, however none have been uploaded. Always try and upload pictures..Heres all the info on uploading..How to post| add a picture or file| embed picture and here's how to resize your large pictures easily...How to resize pictures, EASY! | Click here before posting a picture.

Otherwise some smarty pants will do this to you..lol..

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seamstress

Apologies for not attaching pics to first post. Here they are. That's what I get for having too many irons in the fire, lol.

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Eric Frei

LOL, who would plant a tree there in the first place!

I read that they split easily from ice.

I'm not familiar with this tree but from what I read they want to grow 20' to 40' high and about as wide.

Better to start pruning it when it's smaller but honestly, why in the deep blue sky would some-one plant a tree that can grow 30' wide 3' from a house?

Now you'll have an annual pruning on your hands and the weeping form will be destroyed in an attempt to keep it under control.

Regarding the split, leave it alone, maybe go and buy some eucalyptus oil spray and once a week spray the crack, that'll keep any bugs away.

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seamstress

Thanks Ekka. I already have eucalyptus oil, so that works. I was mainly concerned about nasties getting in there and didn't know exactly what to do about it.

Every house I have lived in as an adult has suffered from amateur landscapers planting things too close to a structure. This house is especially bad. There's a magnolia & a dogwood planted 2-3' from the fenceline that were too big to move when I got here. The dogwood was also planted directly under the phone & cable lines coming to the house.

These weeping cherries are *very* common around here, almost obligatory lol. I doubt they would be as popular as they are if they didn't do reasonably well.

This particular tree wasn't outgrowing it's spot too fast until a 40+ year old ash out by the street was cut down by the city for emerald ash borers about 4 years ago. Once the shade was gone, the cherry really took off.

What exactly causes this kind of split? I mean, the mechanics going on inside the tree. Is it something like the inside layers expanding faster than the outer layers or something?

Eric Frei

Frozen water expands ... cracking along the grain is easiest.

Over here palms get similar cracks, like fissures, when they get a shot load of water they swell up and crack.

Some eucs I have seen a smaller similar crack, called growth crack, boom years when they get so much moisture to do that.

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tms917

Thought I'd reply to this thread since I have similar issues... thanks in advance for any help!

Details:
Southeastern Wisconsin
Bing Cherry Tree
Tree age approx 7-8 years
Produced significant fruit 1 year ago
Produced "beginner" fruit 2 years ago
Was about 9 feet high 5 years ago
Estimate about 17 feet tall today

Luckily for me, it's located in a great spot - nothing to interfere with growth!

As you can see from the photo, the tree has a fresh split along the length of the trunk. Should I apply eucalyptus oil, or any other application, to ease any problems?

The tree has various other "short splits" - about 6 inches in length at the most, that ooze sap. Any suggestions here as well?

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Brent Ferris

This kind of crack is fairly common with our cold winters -- known as a frost crack. Essentially on a sunny cold day, the sun heats the bark -- it expands -- and the wood beneath also expands -- but more slowly because of the insulative bark. When the sun goes down, the temperature drops precipitately shrinking the bark faster than the wood can, and the bark splits. On subsequent days, the wood will also split since it no longer has the bark to protect it. Wrapping the trunk with burlap in the fall (removing it in the spring) tends to eliminate the problem assuming the trunk has never split. Once it has split, the burlap may help to mitigate the ongoing problem -- at least until the trunk reaches at least 12" diameter.

Since you probably want to keep the cherry, I would trim it back - after flowering (and fruit if it has any) to about 8 feet -- makes it easier to pick the fruit, easier to maintain, minimal problems with the house. I presume they planted the tree that close - to better appreciate the flowers (maybe keep some fruit for themselves) and assumed it would never get big in their lifetime,. And likely the nursery they bought it from said it would grow to 10 feet. Unfortunately, the nurseries don't add the tree doesn't stop there -- I think they are afraid to give the true heights -- people wouldn't buy the trees.

Noi doubt the tree will give you a lot of satisfaction and pride -- but as Eric has said, annual trimming will be required to attempt to keep it to a reasonable size,.

Both the first query, and stated in the 2nd query is the presence of gum - also known as gumnosis - usually indicates the tree is under stress. Be sure it has adequate amounts of fertilizer - bonemeal-bloodmeal-potash and liquid seaweed and gets regular watering - at least several hours a week, preferably in one application. Wait at least 4 hours after watering, and check the depth of penetration with a spade. Since most of the roots are in the top 6-12 inches, water needs to penetrate to that depth for the tree to grow well.

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Alex Metzler

yep, its called sun scald or frost crack, extreem temperature fluctuations are the most common cause as stated above, the expansion and contraction of the bark separates the delicate cambium tissue acting as a "band" which grows under pressure around the expanding trunk tissue.
as the splitting starts, the compression helps the wound travel further.
similar injuries can establish themselves in the middle of the summer on really hot days, or if the plant has bees defoliated, the reason it appears on the southwest face of the trunk is because the sun is most intense in the eve time, when the sun shines through less atmospheric particles, and btw you'll mostly see it on prunus more than other sp, mostly.
perhaps due to the supple bark.