Why Is My Tree Shedding Its Bark? Causes And Solutions For Bark Peeling Off My Tree

Did you notice your tree bark shedding away in substantial amounts, revealing the underneath wood? If you have witnessed this before, you might want to ask yourself, “Why is my tree shedding its bark?”

If you spot your ‘healthy’ tree that once had thick bark, full canopies, and plump fruits shedding its bark, don’t panic.

In this article, we will unravel the likely causes and solutions for bark peeling off your tree.

Read on to learn more about tree care.

Why Is My Tree Shedding Its Bark?

To be candid, there is no single answer to why bark falls of your tree. Instead, there are several different reasons why bark can fall off your tree.

If your tree is peeling off its bark, learn about the likely causes below:

Natural Cause

Just like humans, trees grow too, and when they do, their bark, which acts as the outer covering, must expand.

While younger trees have a softer and more flexible bark that can easily accommodate the growth, older trees have harder bark that will instead crack and split, eventually peeling off the tree trunk to reveal the new inner covering.

In fact, some tree species, such as Eucalyptus, Sycamore, Birch, Hickory, Silver maple trees, and Pine naturally shed bark to accommodate new healthy bark.

This natural old bark shedding is usually a gradual process that occurs in small, thin layers.

So, as long as you spot a healthy layer of bark underneath the peeling layers, don’t panic, as your tree is OK.

But if you notice that there is no replacement bark beneath the dead bark, just know that your tree needs more attention.

Sunscald On A Tree Trunk

This is the death of bark tissues caused by tree exposure to excessive heat or high temperatures. It can occur during the winter or summer, but summer sunscald is rarely encountered.

During the long winter cold, many trees go into dormancy. But when it begins to warm, the bark gets activated, loses its cold hardiness, and develops new cells to continue with its normal activity.

However, if the warm day suddenly returns into icy cold nights, this can cause the new cells to freeze and die, leading to a sunken and discolored tree bark, which may soon begin to crack and split over time.

Sunscald is a fairly common problem with young, thin-barked fruit and ornamental trees.

Frost Cracking

Another possible cause of bark shedding is frost cracking. It usually develops in late winter to early spring. It is commonly found on the south or southwest side of a tree, and it can be several feet long.

During the warm day, the cells in the tree bark warm up and expand. At night, when the temperature drops, the outer bark cools down faster than the inner bark.

This causes the outer bark to contract and crack vertically, and the bark may eventually fall off.

Frost cracking doesn’t happen in winter only. Excessive heat can also cause the bark to crack. For instance, the water in the inner bark and the tree wood can expand and contract under altering temperatures.

This rapid and continuous expansion and contraction of water within the inner bark and tree wood can result in a crack. 

Pest Infestations

A pest infestation can also be responsible for bark peeling in trees. Insects like Emerald ash borer, Dogwood borer, Asian longhorn beetle, and bark beetles can bore their way beneath the tree bark and cause severe damage.

As these insects bore holes through the bark, they feed on the inner bark and disrupt the normal flow of water and nutrients in the tree. The tree may begin to lose its bark as a result.

Fungal Diseases

Fungal diseases are another culprit responsible for peeling bark. The diseases, such as Cytospora canker, Hypoxylon canker, and Nectria canker can cause dead spots on tree bark.

For instance, once a tree is infected with fungi, the fungi will grow and kill the living tissue beneath the bark.

This will eventually cause the bark to become sunken, discolored, and fall off.

Common fungal diseases are Cytospora canker, Hypoxylon canker, and Nectria canker.

Environmental Stress

Sometimes, a tree can shed its bark due to environmental stress. Some factors or conditions in the environment can stress your tree and make its bark peel.

These factors include drought, poor drainage, soil compaction, and mechanical damage.

Hence, it is important to adequately water your tree, mulch it, improve your drainage system, and protect your tree from mechanical damage.

Solutions For Bark Shedding In Trees

Try one or all of the solutions below to restore your damaged tree and prevent it from further shedding:

Provide improved growing conditions: Make sure that your tree receives adequate water, soil drainage, sunlight, and enough space. If necessary, add nutrient-rich topsoil, mulch, or compost.

Prune the tree branches to allow sunlight to go through.

Avoid environmental stress and promptly attend to pest infestation.

Protect the tree bark: To prevent sunscald and pest attacks, you may need to cover the tree trunk with cloth or any other suitable material.

Protect the bark from weed trimmers or lawnmowers using tree fencing or guards.

Use topical treatments: To prevent fungal infections, try topical treatments, such as applying Bordeaux paste over the shedding bark.

Bordeaux paste contains copper that can inhibit fungus. Insecticides like carbaryl (Sevin) can protect your tree against bark beetles. Dabbing and rubbing alcohol over the entry hole of the bark beetle entry can minimize damage.

Consult a professional: If all the methods above seem unproductive, try consulting an arborist.

Conclusion

Your tree bark is very important because it acts as a protection and source of nourishment for your tree.

Also, a degree of tree shedding is allowed naturally. However, shedding large chunks of bark can be a sign of underlying issues, which may include sunscald, frost cracking, pest infestation, fungal diseases, and environmental stress.

However, bark shedding does not necessarily mean that your tree is dead unless there are dead twigs and leaves. There are a number of solutions that can help stop the shedding and rejuvenate your tree bark.

Always remember that addressing the reason behind the peeling bark early is important to ensure that your tree survives and thrives for years to come.

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