Bark Splitting on a Japanese Cherry???

I recently bought a smallish kojo-no-mai cherry, and it has what seems like a wound on it, where the bark is splitting. It seems old, so the tree isn't in danger, but I was more worried about it from an aesthetic point of view. A bit of googling has taught me that this is common with full size cherry trees, as winter sun heats them after frosts and because of rates of expansion, the bark often splits. But it's kind of ugly on such a delicate tree.

So, I was wondering if anyone had any experience with this? Will it eventually heal? And, is there anything I can do to prevent this int he future? Or, is it just the cost of doing business with cherry trees?

Thanks.

-Jamie- wrote:I recently bought a smallish kojo-no-mai cherry, and it has what seems like a wound on it, where the bark is splitting. It seems old, so the tree isn't in danger, but I was more worried about it from an aesthetic point of view. A bit of googling has taught me that this is common with full size cherry trees, as winter sun heats them after frosts and because of rates of expansion, the bark often splits. But it's kind of ugly on such a delicate tree.

So, I was wondering if anyone had any experience with this? Will it eventually heal? And, is there anything I can do to prevent this int he future? Or, is it just the cost of doing business with cherry trees?

Thanks.

Sometimes this is indicative of a bore attack. The only other reason could be if the split runs the length of the trunk it is from early sap rise and late frost; causing the water in the Cambium to expand and kill that portion of the trunk. The only way to avoid that is to provide better winter protection for the tree. This happens a lot with Japanese Maples and you will see it if you look at landscape trees. On the South and West sides of those trees if they are exposed to the sun from that direction inevitably that will be the side of the tree where the split will orrurs.

I agree with Vance. Check for borers. Do you have any sawdust laying at base of tree, any holes? You can google for more info.

I'm pretty sure it's not a borer. No sawdust. And I bought the tree like this last December, and there's been no change to it since then. Maybe it had a borer that had been removed, but the owner of the bonsai shop (a reputable place with good stock) said that this type of thing sometimes happens with cherries.