Maple trees having thin bark will have a higher chance of cracking. A sudden drop in the temperature causes the outer layer of wood to contract more rapidly than the inner layer, which results in a long vertical crack at weak points in the trunk. Especially during the winter, where the temperature varies a lot, the tree trunk can be expanding and contracting to cause the cracking of the tree bark. Frost cracksĪlso known as Southwest canker. Wrap the trunk with tree wrap loosely to prevent sunlight directly hitting the tree. So it is better to prevent before the sunscald happens. Once the sunburn is on the tree, you can do very little to heal this damage. Please make sure the newly planted tree is well protected to prevent sunscald from happening. It is also called southwest injury since the damage occurs on the southwest side of the tree.Īlthough sunscald damage can rarely kill a tree, it is worth noting it can do a lot of damage, which can hinder the growth of a young maple tree. However, sunlight with enough heat (generally on the southwest-facing side in the afternoon) activates the tree cell but unable to return to dormancy at night when the freezing temperature can kill the active cell. During the winter, maple trees are inactivated due to dormancy. Sunscald usually happen over the winter or early spring.
