Maintaining Cork Bark

[Gert]

This tree was initially covered in moss at the base which caused the corking bark to fall away on the lower portion of the trunk. The tree sits in full sun all day and dries out by mid day when it receives its second watering. Even with this wet/dry cycle, moisture tends to remain on the lowest portion of the trunk and I fear it may prevent it from corking back up in the future.

Does anyone have any good suggestions for maintaining and caring for bark on corking cultivars?

Thank you!

 

[Shibui]

This also happened to a few of mine. Seems terrible at the time but new bark will form and develop into corky bark. To overcome the reverse taper I just rubbed the flaky bark above off to re-establish proper taper and let the whole trunk gradually develop new bark.
Don't worry, it only takes a couple of years and the bark will look even better than before. Moisture will not stop corky bark from forming. Corky bark is the result of new bark growing each year but the older, outside bark doesn't drop off like it does in smooth bark trees.
The only prevention is to keep moss under control.

 

[Gert]

Thanks for the info Shibui. Appreciate your insight. Do you think leaving the cork bark mid way up the trunk will make the taper issue persist in the long term and that is why you remove it all or from your experience does it even out over time and it's mostly an aesthetic change for the present time?

 

[JudyB]

Rough barked trees are tough to keep moss off of, especially if it’s a moisture loving species. I have learned to really be proactive with tweezers and get them off as fast as I see them start to creep on.

 

[Gert]

Thanks Judy! I'm going to have to move this guy to the front of the bench and keep an eye on him.

 

[Shibui]

Do you think leaving the cork bark mid way up the trunk will make the taper issue persist in the long term and that is why you remove it all or from your experience does it even out over time and it's mostly an aesthetic change for the present time?

On corky bark varieties the outer bark stays stuck on indefinitely. That's why they are corky bark type. Assuming that new bark underneath develops at a similar rate along the trunk, if you leave the upper bark section intact the reverse taper will still be there indefinitely.
You could leave it for a few years to see what happens then try to rectify if it doesn't or post here again to show that it turned out fine,
OR you can get at it now and not have the wait time.
My experiences show it is best to take off the extra bark and let the new layers develop into new cork bark. As a bonus the newer bark that developed on my trees had many more ridges and grooves so looked much better than just a few larger plates.

 

[leatherback]

As a bonus the newer bark that developed on my trees had many more ridges and grooves so looked much better than just a few larger plates.

Do you have this also with Arakawa japanese maple?

 

[Shibui]

I have not grown Arakawa maple but the theory is the same for all trees that develop corky bark.

 

[leatherback]

I have not grown Arakawa maple but the theory is the same for all trees that develop corky bark.

OK. My thought was mainly on the finer patters that develop if the old plates are removed. Not sure if you meant that will be universal. I might one day give it a try.

 

[Shibui]

It should follow similar patterns.
I've noticed that the bark splits about every cm, On small trunks that means only 2-3 ridges but those same ridges persist as the trunk thickens and starts to look odd. When you start again the bark starts to split again at around 1 cm but now the trunk is thicker that's lots of smaller ridges that fits in better with the larger trunk.
I suspect this should hold with all corky bark species but I would be very interested to hear if this does apply.