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Bark Splits on Red Maple: Normal Growth or Root Problem?

Some bark splitting is normal and heals. However, circling roots at the base caused the stress here. Remove the girdling root now to prevent future strangulation. Bark tracing isn't needed.

About Gardening: Maple Trunk Bark Peeling: Wound Care (Bark Scoring); Cracked Bark and Lichens on Young Red Maples; Japanese Maple Bark Peeling: Often Normal Exfoliation; Paperbark Maple Sparse Foliage and Heavy Seeding: Causes and Fixes; Coral Bark Maple Losing Bark: Sunscald, Borers, or Natural Exfoliation?; Frost Crack vs. Sunscald on Young Autumn Maple; Maple Bark Peeling: Decay Fungi and Borer Prevention; Car Impact on Maple: Bark Stripping Repair and Borer Prevention; Silver Maple Shedding Bark: Normal Aging; Stop Squirrels from Stripping Bark on Japanese Maples

Garden Articles

Identifying Lichen vs. Disease on Maple Trunks and Managing Frost Cracks

Large White Grubs in Maple Trunks: Flatheaded Borers

Maple with Holes and Black Bark: Borers and Surface Fungus

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Longhorn Borer in Maple: Bark Spraying for Prevention

Coral Bark Maple Fall Growth Spurt: Stress Response

Coral Bark Maple Identification

Plants

Maple Trunk Bark Loss: Old Borer Damage and Healing Strategies

Coral Bark Maple Decline: Balancing Water in Pacific Northwest

Japanese Maple Borer Infestation: Emergency Spinosad/Neem Treatment

Black Spots on Japanese Maple Bark: Likely Harmless Lichens

Japanese Maple Bark Peeling: Sooty Bark Disease and Lichen—Water, Insecticide, Monitor

Coral Bark Maple Black Sap Spot and Mottled Leaves: Graft Incompatibility

Saving a Dog-Damaged Young Maple: Wound Care and Borer Prevention