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One of our flowering pears has the bark pulling away from the base of the trunk. It is planted in our front lawn and has done well till now. Afraid we're going to loose it. The crown doesn't show any problems yet. The side that the bark is pulling away is the shady side. We live in Northern California and it is very hot. Has been over 100 for about 3 week. With many days around 110. Puzzled though because we just finished a drought and there wasn't problems then. Hope I can get some ideas or answers. Also we water the lawn 2 times a day. Once in the evenings and once in the mornings. Also should I pull the bark away? Should I treat the bark?

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Debbie Ford
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3 Answers3

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Watering the grass does not water the tree. I suggest pulling the grass back three feet from the trunk and mulching to an inch or so.

Do not treat the bark. This is old damage so the rest of the trunk is compensating.

Sue Saddest Farewell TGO GL
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kevinskio
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The most important thing you can do for this tree is like Kevinsky said, pull that grass and soil and anything touching that bark away from the tree. Make a good 2' radius circle. This damage is probably because this tree has been buried too deeply and/or this is mower and line trimmer damage.

That loose bark needs to be cut away without damaging any more of the vascular system just beneath the bark. No painting of any kind. Make sure that the roots are below the soil and where that bark begins above the roots there is no soil, mulch, grass, rocks up against the bark.

stormy
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4

I'll cast a 3rd vote for giving the tree some breathing room from the grass. I'd also suggest 3 feet as a minimum. However, I would also suggest not physically digging the grass out. In my experience I've seen fruit tree sprout watershoots from root damage and I'd think it would create more of a long term management issue than a helpful situation. My prefered method would be at the start of the rainy season trim the grass as low as possible with a string trimmer up to about 4" from the tree. AVOID hitting the bark with the line! Then lay a double layer of newspaper making sure to overlap all seams by 4-6". I'd then add 2-3" of mulch over the newspaper, but making sure it isn't touching the trunk.

I also agree that the wound shouldn't be treated. Personally, I'd worry more about the bark on the ground side of the wound that the crown side. If possible, make sure there aren't pockets where water can collect. Otherwise, I'd leave the bark along as much as possible.

Ben
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