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Northwestern Gardening

I need advice about my Hawthorne Tree

14 years ago

Help! does anyone know anything about SouthWestern disease in deciduous trees? I have a gorgeous Toba Hawthorne tree that's having trouble. Every year the bark cracks and lifts and insects winter underneath. Eventually they will invade and kill the tree. A Gardener told me it was from the trunk being exposed to hot sun in the summer and if I paint it white it will prevent this however, this spring I've just gone and checked it and sure enough....same problem and after peeling off the cracked bark there a lots of earwig and other larvae underneath. Any recomendations?

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Comments (2)

reg_pnw7
14 years ago
I've never heard of Southwestern disease so can't help you there.

It's normal for bark to crack and come loose as the tree grows. That's how the trunk expands. On mammals the skin stretches. Insects and other arthropods shed their skins to make room to grow. Trees pop their bark loose.

Earwigs are not going to invade your tree. They're just sheltering under there. Tree boring insects don't need the bark to crack to get in, the females have drills for ovipositors and they drill holes through the bark and into the wood to lay the eggs that will hatch into wood boring larvae.

If you're seeing the new cracks in spring then it's not the hot summer sun, it's winter cold. Whitewash won't help that, but you can get tree wrapping tape for protecting from winter cold. Earwigs will still get under it though. And you have to make sure to take it off in spring so you don't strangle the tree when it tries to grow.

Dont' peel off cracked bark. It's still serving a purpose so long as it stays on by itself. Leave the tree alone, that's my recommendation.
graycam
14 years ago
Do you know what kind of bugs they are, and is the area that the bugs get into accessible?

You could try spraying some diluted lime sulfur into the cracked area. It'll kill the bugs, and dry out that part of the wood, to protect from decay (I suspect a damp, decaying area is a desirable area for bugs). Oh, the area you spray will turn a bit yellow for a day or two, then a bleached white - so for asthetic reasons, try not to let it spill all over.

Lime sulfer isn't good for pets or people - so if you use it, be careful where it goes! But it won't harm a tree (I am a bonsai hobyist and we use it all the time with no ill effect on the tree).
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