One of the primary sources of bark damage on
landscape trees is mechanical damage. These are
brakes in the bark caused by some physical force and
not by animals, insect or disease.
High on the
mechanical list is the universally used lawn mower.
Trying to get too close to the trunk of young trees
with smooth, immature bark is probably the number
one source of bark damage in the home landscape. In
trying to get that last blade of grass, we routinely
bang into the bark and cause damage. Other ways we
damage our trees would be with weed whips, pruning
tools, toys, snow plows, etc.
The only approach
here is to prevent the damage from occurring by
avoiding contact with the bark of your trees. Once
the bark has been split, it will probably develop
canker
disease.
