Why Is My Gum Tree Shedding Bark

If you see bare wood or mats of fungus under the peeling bark the tree is suffering from environmental damage or disease.

Why is my gum tree shedding bark. Gum trees in particular stand out because of the way that they shed their bark. Any sudden swing in temperature can make trees shed bark and crack under stress. This bark shedding is called decorticating and is a normal thing to see especially with smooth barked gum trees such as sydney bluegum spotted gum and ribbon gums hence their name like eucalyptus viminalis. Trees grow and when they do the outside must expand.

As a result most smooth bark eucalypts shed a lot of their bark in the summer months. Reason that the bark is peeling off of a mature tree. An australian native corymbia maculata is endemic to the eastern states of australia. Department of agriculture hardiness zones 5.

A tree book i have on my shelf cited below says. The large spotted gum tree in my little back yard sheds its bark each year and after ten years of living with it i finally learned a valuable life lesson from it. Causes of falling limbs on a sweet gum tree. Some stringy bark eucalypts grow masses of thin walled cells in the bark so when it dies the bark breaks into strings of loosely attached fibrous bark.

As the tree sheds its bark it also sheds any mosses lichens fungi and parasites that may live on the bark. Like a crab shedding its too tight shell a tree must shed its old bark shell to make room for the new larger tree within. Shedding eucalyptus tree bark may help keep the tree healthy. Over those years i ve admired this beautiful tree.

Trees that have peeling bark. If you see bark covering the wood after the old bark peels away the tree is probably undergoing a normal shedding process. Stem girdling roots are a major issue when planting a nursery bought tree. In other cases tree bark may fall off due to insect infestation.

Some peeling bark can perform photosynthesis contributing to the rapid growth and overall health of the tree. A tree with peeling bark doesn t always indicate a problem. Bark falls off an unhealthy tree which means you d see other signs of stress such as cankers sap or dead leaves and twigs. Decorticating bark can be seen in many species all year round with long flakes of old bark seen hanging from the crowns of trees.

Sweet gum trees liquidambar styraciflua grow in a narrow pyramid shape to heights of 75 feet in u s. In younger trees the outside bark is generally softer and more flexible and can accommodate the growth. Stem girdling roots are a pr.