When I bought it a year or so ago, I didn't notice that this Amelanchier arborea had a damaged trunk. lt looks like winter sun scald damage to me. I wrapped it this year to protect it, but I don't know what to do - if anything - about this canker. I read somewhere that it's best to cut the damaged area so that it heals.
The tree's about 5 feet tall and, except for this area near its base, it looks very healthy.
You are saying several different things here - all of which will have a different answer or recommendation.
You bought the plant with this situation/damage?
If it is winter sun scald, then that is a totally different climatic/environmental condition which doesn't have anything to do with cultural requirements or grower responsibility for disease control and sanitation.
You are calling it a canker - which connotes disease and infection. Is that the fact?
DO NOT CUT ANYTHING! I would love to know where you read about this treatment - so that I can publicly mock whomever provided that scurrilous unhelpful (and possibly dangerous) recommendation.
Please show more images of this plant, besides the excruciating closeup of a wound that appears to be sufficiently closing with callous/wound wood.
Yes, I bought it with this damage. That part of the trunk was covered by burlap, so I didn't see it until after I had planted it.
It wasn't/isn't diseased; I used the word canker only because I saw it used in articles to describe winter sun scald damage and I didn't know what else to call it.
Here are a few of the articles that recommend cutting:
http://www.extension.umn.edu/garden/yard-garden/trees-shrubs/protecting-from-winter-damage/
http://www.gov.mb.ca/agriculture/crops/plant-diseases/print,winter-sunscald-frost-cracking.html
I'm glad I'm doing the right thing; i.e. nothing! I'll take some photos tomorrow.
Hey Muddy, just to encourage you, I bought a Katsura tree with a couple badly damaged spots on the trunk in fall of 2012. Both spots looked like sunscald or rub damage from being tied to a post all summer. After a tough first year, the tree is performing nicely and closing over the wounds. The smaller one is almost completely healed and the larger one might be mostly healed by the end of this season. I've done nothing to help it at all.
Thanks, Sequoia, now I don't feel so bad about failing to check it out before buying it, although I probably would have bought it anyway.
Here are more pics of the tree. I think it's an Amelanchier arborea, but I can't find the tag so I'm not positive. It's just blooming now, whereas my other Amelanchier has berries forming already.
Uh oh...
Beg your pardon, ma'm - but that's no Amelanchier sp., of any kind.
It is a fun native, though. Let's see who can ID it.
What?! I guess I'm going to have to pay more attention when I buy things...especially if they're trees.
A fun native, huh? Now I'm really curious. Please tell me it doesn't grow to be over 50 feet tall.
OK, it doesn't grow to be over 50 feet tall.
What would you say if it grew to be over, oh, 75 feet tall?
Edited to say that I shall do my best to ID it tomorrow....although I hope someone chimes in before then!
This message was edited Jun 8, 2015 10:57 PM
Is it Lindera benzoin (Northern Spicebush)?
Of course I'm kidding about your gargantuan unknown's ultimate height - considering northern Virginian's vivid imaginations, I hope no one spent the wee hours in the dark by Klieg lights transplanting this special little plant.
It is not Spicebush (Lindera benzoin). That will have flowered very early in spring before the leaves, with small poufy pale yellowish flowers. It will emit a spicy fragrance when crushing leaves.
A very good ID feature on this uncommon (to gardens) unknown is the impressed veining on the upper surface of the alternate simple elliptic leaves - and (of course) those cute little flowers just beginning to open. They will become reddish fruits that are quite showy before maturing to black.
This is a good little beast for your place. Except for your skills, this is normally a 15' footer - like most small ornamental trees. There - maybe reaching for the heights...
My guess is it's a choke cherry of some kind.
Not a Prunus sp.
Whew!!! I can stop digging it up now! Just kidding; I had decided that having a 75-plus tree in my backyard probably wouldn't be a problem while I'm living in the house, although it would have seriously shaded my sun-lovers and might have encroached on the storm drain pipe located not too far beneath the surface.
Rhamnus caroliniana?
Don't know if that's it or not but I really do love that plant! Just did some quick research and someone wrote in the Plant Files that it doesn't mind a more shaded environment. I'm going to 'need' to plant a garden around a shed we plan on getting later this year. That will have to go on the options list.
Nyssa sylvatica?
I think the black gum is too tall for VV's hints. Those are fantastic trees though. It's a #1 tree to plant for me if I could plant another tree.
I think Wee might be right. Here's a (too) close-up of a flower.
Edited to add that I will be delighted if that is the mis-marked plant that I purchased!
This message was edited Jun 9, 2015 5:33 PM
Better close-ups of a flower: I just happened to catch this little insect (ant?) crawling into the flower for whatever it is that it provides.
aargh, they didn't load!! 2nd try.
awesome photos! but have you googled images of Nyssa flowers?
No, I didn't because VV made my day by saying this plant normally only reaches 15 feet.
Wee's right - to Muddy's delight...
Yay!! Thanks for the ID, Wee and VV. I never would have figured this one out.
Am I safe in assuming that I shouldn't do anything about the canker other than watch for signs of infection? It seems to be a very healthy little tree right now.
I forgot to post this photo.
There is what appears to be a beetle in the middle of this flower.
You shouldn't call it a canker anymore - it is simply a wound of indeterminate origin which callous wood is closing over.
I took a look at the articles you linked to above. I don't see any reference to canker. I am curious to know who uses the term canker to refer to a physical or climatic wound like this, versus the damage caused by a pathogen. They are not providing a service to the gardening public by improperly using terms that way.
I also find it interesting that this linked information comes from 3-5 zones colder than your growing conditions. I would offer that your gardening advice come from places like Penn State, UDel, VA Tech, and NCSU. Maybe Cornell, if you want to walk on the wild side. All are stellar institutions that have researched and practiced in circumstances much more similar to you. It does make a difference.
This is from the MN Extension link:
[qote]To repair sun scald damage, cut the dead bark back to live tissue with a sharp knife, following the general shape of the wound, rounding off any sharp corners to facilitate healing (Figure 1). Wrap the trunk in subsequent winters to prevent further damage. Do not use a wound dressing. Spraying the area with a fungicide may help prevent fungal infection of the wound.[/quote]
If you have never done this, and/or never watched someone knowledgeable do it - Don't Do It. Especially not to a plant you wish to keep.
If you want to learn, ask someone knowledgeable to demonstrate the techniques involved - and then practice on something you expect to eliminate. Any invasive species or expendable woody plant will do.
The technique of pruning away or excising dead tissue is an art. It requires knowledge of plant physiology, and recognition of living tissue versus dead tissue. I would liken this to allowing your cousin to come dress a severe cut on your arm. Is your cousin a doctor of any sort? Give your trees similar consideration.
You have probably seen plenty of wounds on trees/shrubs: mower damage, weedeater damage, bumps from motor vehicles, smacks from other large plants/things falling on them, etc. Those are good instances in which to learn how to perform this type of "cutting" properly.
OK, enough of being cranky and curmudgeonly - and partake of some Cabernet...
I hope that Cabernet worked its magic!
Here's one of the sites where I saw that word which I shall not mention again: http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/fid/july97/07239716.html
I'm going to take your advice and not cut my little tree, but I am glad I asked about it because otherwise I wouldn't have known what it was.
Sweet, glad that one's figured out. Congrats Muddy on your new(ish) Rhamnus caroliniana!
Congratulations on a suitable replacement for what you thought you had Muddy, it was sweet how it all worked out, start to finish. Sally's right, those were some awesome photos.
Sequoia you're pretty sweet too.
Thanks goes out Viburnum Valley for the entertaining lesson and for not giving it away too soon (even though it was killing Muddy -- sorry Muddy, I was certain I could identify it right away). VV, I sure do appreciate you!
Congrats to Wee for being smart enough to solve the Rhamnus mystery.
Thanks Mipii :-)
Thanks, Mipii. Yes, I was a bit nervous for a while; now I can just enjoy my little tree. I had already started limbing it up, so I'm going to keep pruning it into a tree form.
You guys are so welcome. Yes, it will look good as a small tree, I would probably do the same!
I would forget it , but in my experience such previous bark split usually makes the plant much more susceptible to future stress such as unusual cold Winters and the plant eventually dies. I know you probably feel that you can give it extra care and make it survive. I hope you are right but sometimes the extra time nursing a poor plant is just not worth the extra effort
I wrapped the trunk in tree wrap last winter and plan to do it this winter too; I think that will help, and it can't hurt. It looks very healthy, so I'm optimistic.
