Both, that split looks like what is commonly referred to as a "frost crack", which may or may not have anything to do with frost. If the tree is vigorous enough, it should be able to lay down new layers of wood in subsequent years, providing strength and soundness. This is not "healing", but more properly, "wound closure". Animals heal. Trees wall off and close their wounds. Completely different process.

It looks like there may be some "mower blight" occurring at the base of the tree. This banging of the trunk by mowers, string trimmers, etc. can aggrevate the situation, and is to be avoided. Why not mulch around it, which aside from preventing the above, will enhance its' vitality greatly.

+oM

The wound is old. And the tree has almost completed closing the wound.

And if you mulch around the tree -- a very good idea, by the way -- don't pile it against the tree trunk.

Thank you guys for advice. The tree was put in two years ago. It is in an area that never gets mowed or anything. There was something down there when we purchased the tree but I did not pay enough attention. We got the tree cheap from Lowes.
Can I mulch with dirt? I am always fearful of rot. I think I should have planted the tree deeper. I also wonder if it heaved the first winter.
The bottom of the trunk is closing but the continuation of the crack is new and fresh I think because up close the inside of the wound is light wood color-yellow. It't hard to see from the pic.
I don't care what the tree will look like. I just don't want to find out in the future that I have to take the tree down.
Is this tree going to do this every winter? It appears to me that this is the second winter to have done this the first winter the lower part. This winter the split all the way to the top and furthur split at the bottom are fresh. Amy

can you mulch with dirt ... ???

first.. dirt is what is on your hands and clothes and carpeting.. after working in the soil ...

by definition ... MULCH is not soil or dirt ... its mulch ... any number of things which will help the soil retain water.. keep weeds down.. and keep the soil cooler .. wood chips... compost ... so many options ...

is the damage on the south side of the trunk .. the sun side???

i agree with the sun scald/ frost[freeze] cracking ... consider the tree dormant and frozen solid... [not really, but for example] ... and imagine a month of freezing cold.. then one bright sun shiny day ... the sun pops out.. and the temps go up to thirty .. and the south side of the tree trunk goes up to 60 degrees or whatever ... go out some cold day and touch a tree.. you will be surprised how warm it is.. think of the sap inside the bark thawing and freezing repeatedly .... anyway ... the sun goes down.. and that night its back to sub zero ... then you can imagine the freeze/thaw cycle inside the bark ...

this happens frequently on young trees...

and VERY frequently on recent transplants ... their ability to move the requisite water .. prior to dormancy to get ready for winter was interrupted by the transplant ..

all things being equal .... most trees can take the injury and recover.. thought the scar may be there for a while.. while the tree gets its act together and grows enough roots to become healthy and fix itself ...

it also doesnt surprise me that a late season bargain tree from a bigboxstore would be stressed and unable to take it on the chin the first few winters ...

mulch it.. and ignore it.. most likely it will be fine ... water it properly ... deep and long watering, letting it nearly dry in between .... is way better than a squirt ...

and NO .. it doesnt need any food/fert ...

good luck

ken

"that split looks like what is commonly referred to as a "frost crack", which may or may not have anything to do with frost"

I've only ever heard it called drought crack.

Resin

Ken, your post explains this so well, thank you! This happened to all my trees the day after they were all planted in hot horse manure and then it was 11 degrees in the yard for 3 straight weeks, Dec05. They are no longer splitting and the frost cracks are gradually being covered by rounded wood.

both, one of the leading reasons that new trees (and shrubs) end up dieing is by being planted too deeply. Use a coarse mulch to cover the area with, and keep the soil away. Your plant will appreciate it.

Doesn't it look like the wound is both old and new? Like it cracked in the same place it cracked before?

Niko, yes it does that is what is making me wonder if it will happen every winter. Amy

"Frost cracks" do frequently recurr. I'd give it a good five years to see what it's going to do. It will not be too big then if you do decide to take it down. And as others have said, don't spread more soil around it. Its depth of planting looks right on. Wood chips, shredded bark, that sort of thing, spread out as far as you can tolerate-and kept a couple inches away from trunk-will help it regardless.

+oM

Around here I've heard this called Southwest Sunscald...the southwest part comes from the direction of the afternoon sun during the winter months. You would probably have similar sun exposure in your area. To reduce the drastic temperature changes on bright days some people wrap young trees with white colored plastic spiral cut thingies....can't think what they are called, but they use them alot on fruit trees to prevent mice and rabbits from gnawing on them. Young maples are particularly susceptible to this type of cracking around here. If your tree damage is on the south or west side you might want to add protection next winter. Some people even paint the trunk white while the tree is small. Once the tree grows more and the bark thickens the sunscald risk decreases.

FWIW, I think both the paint and plastic stuff looks ugly. However, the cracks are ugly and potentially fatal.

This is a frost/drought crack, not sunscald, which causes a broader dead area under the bark. These cracks are problematic. I have little experience with them on such small trees, but I see them frequently in my timberland. and because I do logging, I can often trace the history of these cracks and how they "heal," or more usually fail to do so. (Tree physiologists--note my use of quotation marks around the word "heal" in this application.) In some cases these cracks will disappear over time as new wood grows over them and the two sides of the crack are joined, but it seems to me that more often these cracks stay open, either because of flexing of the trunks of the trees in the wind, or because whatever structural weakness caused the crack persists and keeps it open.

Now what I am talking about here is my observations of large forest timber sized trees. Smaller trees may have a better ability to recover from these cracks. But even with my forest trees, these cracks don't often result in the death of these trees any time soon. Some trees survive with these cracks for several decades. When I see these cracks in a timber tree in my woods, I will generally cut it down because continued growth of the tree will not result in the production of much more valuable wood. Not only is the crack itself a defect that prevents the cutting of valuable lumber from that side of the tree, but the crack usually results in the staining of the surrounding wood. But for an ornnmental tree, those things are not a problem. If you are uncomfortable with some marginally doubtful prospects for the future health of this tree, yes, have it replaced. But if it were my tree I would wait at least three years and see if the tree shows signs of repairing this crack. And even if it doesn't, the tree could live for a very long time with this crack.

--Spruce

Thanks to the drought my princess tree has the same problem. About a year ago an old Melaleuca tree had to be cut down by the city (it was 0ver 80 yrs old) sad but true. That same tree was shading my princess tree. As a result of cutting down the old tree there is unfiltered southern exposure. So your explanation makes sense my poor tree is sunscalded. But I wonder if it can be saved.

it will heal no reson to cut it down because of minor damage

Some trees species are more susceptible to frost cracking than others too. Norway Maple and Rowan are especially prone to this.