Question
Help.

I scraped a tree in my yard with the lawn mower and put a gash in the bark about 6 inches high and an inch wide.  The bark is still in tact and attached on top and bottom.  The damages area was just puckered out until I pressed it back against the trunk.

The tree is a 2-year-old Maple with a 4-5 inch trunk.

What should I do?

Thanks for your help.

Answer
The all depends on the size of the tree trunk-a 1 inch off a tree that has a circumfrence of 20 inches is not near as bad as a tree with say 5 inches. The thing you need to do is allow the tree to heal itself and protect it from insect damage. I would take a knife and cut any loose bark off-the tree over time will heal over a wound if it is clean. Then I would suggest you spray the area with an insecticide-check with a local garden type store and get an insecticide for "borers". This spray solution will keep insects from attacking the tree trunk. All of this is especially true with maples since they have a thin bark system. Beyond that the tree should be ok.