Bark on Peach Tree Eaten

16 years ago

I just noticed that a rabbit or some critter ate the bark on my peach tree. It is three years old and has about a two inch diameter trunk. It completely ringed it. I have heard if a tree is ringed it will die.

Any hopes for my peach tree and what should I try to do to save it?

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Comments (8)

Embothrium
16 years ago
It might be OK. Time will tell. I've deliberately ringed larger trees with a hatchet and had them continue on like nothing happened (the sapwood is live and functional as well as the inner bark). Put some wire around it so the animals can't get at it again.
bookbaglady
Original Author
16 years ago
The cut completely girdles the tree trunk. It is a small tree, how will the sap go up and down the trunk? Darn rabbits.
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Those are some good ideas MileHighGirl. In particular, putting the bait under the cage makes a lot of sense, as the animal will need to work to get at it, increasing the chances of tripping the trap. It's also important to secure the trap (a rock on each side), as I've seen the trap moved to get at bait which fell through. Fred, my area is a bit too urban for guns. Besides, I'm a bad enough shot I would probably hurt my trees, house or neighbors more than the target. When I was a kid, around 8 years old, I was growing corn (rather poorly) in my parent's garden. A neighborhood kid (who I was not friendly with) helped himself and I chased him down, almost getting him with a rock. I missed him, but got his father's car windshield...Hmm...Maybe that's not a great story to drive home the point "look what can happen when you don't hit what you aim at." I finally managed to catch the ground hog. Wrapping the cage in the small tarp seems to have made the difference. Though I also used a larger chunk of apple core to make it tougher for small animals to carry away (per Cindy's suggestion), which probably helped. I may not need the cantaloupe I just bought- I got home with it to find the groundhog caught. **Knocks on wood that there aren't any more ground hogs around**
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Embothrium
16 years ago
In the sapwood. However, as you say, it being a small tree, of a type that is not particularly robust...you'll just have to keep caring for it and watch what happens. Has it wilted?
bookbaglady
Original Author
16 years ago
No wilting yet, about 3/4" of bark eaten all the way around the trunk. I did get a tree tube and put it on the trunk to further protect it in case it does make it. Everything I have read says that it will die as the sap can't get from the bottom to the top of the tree or vice versa. I sure hope it makes it, it was a gift from good friends.
rhizo_1 (North AL) zone 7
16 years ago
Water is still being taken up by your tree. It is the inability of sap (photosynthates manufactured by the tree in its leaves) to get DOWN is what may eventually kill your plant. Typically, girdling is a slow process.
bookbaglady
Original Author
16 years ago
Then that will mean that it will not make it through next winter so there is no hope for it. Is that correct?
Dibbit
16 years ago
No, what Rhizo said was that it MAY not be able to survive to the next spring, but that until it actually dies, no-one can say for sure. IF the tree was totally girdled, BUT the sapwood survived, and IF the tree is able to grow over the chewed up area sufficiently that the sap can make it down to the roots, then the tree will probably live. IF the tree was too badly damaged, then it will ptobably die.

If you can get either your county's extension agent or a certified arborist to come look at it, you might get a more definitive opinion, since they can see the damage. MAYBE, if you can post several photos of the damage, a more informed opinion can be given here, but maybe not as well. Seeing the sapwood, and the true extent of the damage can help, but trees, as with all natural things, vary so much in what they can and cannot survive - some make it through an injury and thrive, while another gets what looks like the same damage, and dies from it. There are some things that are clear-cut and others that are ambiguous. This seems to be one of the ambiguous ones.
Embothrium
16 years ago
>There are some things that are clear-cut and others that are ambiguousOr chewed.

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Bark on Peach Tree Eaten

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Embothrium

bookbaglady
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Bark on Peach Tree Eaten

Comments (8)

Embothrium

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bookbaglady
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