Bark protects a tree much like our skin protects us. This tough outer layer shields the underlying wood from pests, disease, ...

Neil Sperry's gardening Q&A covers maple bark splitting, live oak suckers, hedge planting, boxwood pruning and Mexican ...

We have a prairie fire crabapple tree that has very severe splitting in almost all of the major branches. There is some evidence of old bark splits that have healed over that we did not notice until ...

My cherry tree has a problem. The bark is splitting and coming away. It has been looking fine with good foliage and flowers. What is the prognosis? Is there anything I can do? — Ed Bowne. I checked ...

A: There are many things that could cause bark on a tree to split: mechanical damage, animal damage, a lightening strike, even a fluctuating weather pattern. The weather rapidly toggling between mild ...

Q.: My Japanese maple is about 20 years old now. The trunk is divided and I have thought of securing the two trunks together with something because of the extra weight of snow and ice in the winter.

Q: Our willow tree has a 4-foot-long crack in the trunk. Is there anything we can do to prevent this from further damaging the tree? I’ve heard that you can bolt them or wrap straps around the trunk ...