Cracks in the trees - wounds, damage and their treatment

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In each garden, damage to the trunk and skeletal branches of fruit trees. What causes wounds, various cracks in the trees? There are many reasons. This can occur during pruning, and in winter from frost or sunburn. Even in our warmer regions, frost holes on fruit trees are frequent. Apparently, because even in winter the sun can heat up the dark bark of the tree after a night frost. And if the change in temperature — from low to high — is quite common, there is no shade from the foliage, then the bark does not stand up — it cracks.

One interesting fact. In one of the Ukrainian research institutes, special sensors were installed on fruit trees to measure bark temperature. On a sunny day in the winter on the day of testing, the air temperature was -15 ° C, and the temperature of the tree bark at the same time was + 20 ° C on the sunny side.

What processes are happening at this time in the tree? Tree saps under bark heat up, dilute in the sun, and freeze after sunset - ice, as you know, always takes up more volume than liquid - solid tree bark does not withstand such loads - cracks appear.

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What other problems may occur in the trees in the garden in winter? These are sunburns. Take a closer look at the trunks, branches of your trees. If you see brown, reddish, brown spots on the fruit tree, then this is sunburn.

The process of burns such. The bark cells of any tree have chlorophyll in their composition and in the bright sun in the absence of leaves, the process of photosynthesis in the bark, at least not as intensively as in the leaves, but proceeds. In the process of photosynthesis, plastic substances are synthesized in the cortex, for example, polysaccharides and a large complex of other substances from which the tree is being built - new branches, leaves, fruits are growing. And in the winter there are no growth points, the tree is at rest and there is no place for him to waste these plastic substances. Another thing is that these substances are quite active - there is a process of photo-oxidation, that is, under the influence of sunlight, they change their structure. The energy that accumulates during the oxidation process, the tree has no place to go - hence the stains, but this is not just a cosmetic defect - these are damage to the bark, which can give impetus to the development of various diseases.

Sunburn bark injuries must be treated. But more about that later.

What other damage to the bark of garden trees can be seen? Animals can do great harm to our gardens. For example, hares, mice. Mostly young trees suffer from these pests. Ring damage to the bark by rodents is dangerous for trees, when nutrients to the branches and buds are completely stopped, the tree may die.

What else can happen? Windbreaks. From strong winds, from sticking of sleet in winter, and in summer - from a bountiful harvest, tree branches break.

Why do I focus your attention on the wounds, cracks of fruit trees? Because they are the gateway to infection. If you leave the crack untreated, the bacteria, microbes, viruses, fungi from the air, falling on the bare wood begin to feed on it and multiply. I think that I’m not the only one who saw how a wound untreated in time darkens, becomes rotten, decays. Over time, deeper damages and hollows form on the tree.

What is the conclusion of the above? Cracks in the tree need to be treated! Damaged wood ceases to perform its main function - transportation of juices with nutrients to the branches, buds, fruits.

How to treat tree damage?

The first thing I remember from childhood is putty from clay and mullein. A good tool, but in our time, it has several disadvantages.

First - it’s not always immediately possible to get a mullein - people keep their own farms less and less. Yes, and get the clay - the problem.

The second drawback is not a very pleasant cooking process for our nose.

The third - the fragility of the putty - it can wash off the first rain. You can, of course, bandage the smeared place, but this increases the processing time - again, an extra hassle.

The biggest minus, which is especially important for the south, is that clay is an excellent adsorbent. Dried clay putty in the dry hot season begins to absorb moisture from the bark of the tree. This means that the juices do not go to the development of the plant, but to the wetting of the clay putty — they simply evaporate through the wound. There is, of course, a way out of this situation - in the heat periodically watering, wetting the clay bandage with water - but this is also not just because of our employment.

What you need to do first is that if you notice a crack in a tree — clean it up to healthy tissue — green bark slices and a clean wood tissue should remain. If it is a broken branch, then it should be cut with a sharp shear or cut with a hacksaw to level the cut surface from irregularities. Scrape off dead or damaged bark with a metal brush or cut it with a sharp knife. Do not be afraid to harm the tree by such a sweep. If you leave rotting or rotten fabrics in the crack, there will be much more harm. After smearing these dead, diseased tissues with germs, viruses, bacteria or spores of pathogenic fungi under the putty will continue to exist - the tree will not receive help from such a poorly performed procedure.

It is possible to protect a crack or a wound on the affected tree at any time, except for the growing season( March-April), because during the sap flow the disease can spread through the vessels of the tree. After stripping, let the wound dry.

Then treat the crack with copper-containing agents, for example, with 1% or 3% Bordeaux liquid or any antifungal agent. Can be treated with a 3% solution of ferrous sulfate. Wait until the bare tissues of the tree have completely dried and only after that treat the wound with special putties.

There are not many of them, but there is a choice.

First, these are garden vars from various manufacturers.

But recently I have met many reviews about the negative effect of vars on the health of the tree. For example, on one of the forums I read such a review about the gardener's gardener's practice-practice: “By the nature of my activity, I often meet with necrosis and cancer wounds that appear on the site of a wound with garden pitch a few years after the putty. Var loses his antiseptic ability after a year, and then more harm than good from him - there is always a tampering and an ideal environment is created for fungal infections. ”

So decide for yourself whether to use one or another garden pitch or not. When buying a garden garden, pay attention to the composition. The presence of mineral components such as kerosene, gasoline is undesirable. I think that such ingredients cause negative reviews. But natural wax, pine resin, vegetable oils, protective phytoncides are an excellent base for garden vars.

Last time I processed small cuts of apple branches, apricots, cherries and small mechanical damages on seedlings with a garden August brewer( August) - I did not notice any negative aspects.

On sale I met funds with the general name artificial bark. They are sold in stores for gardeners. This, for example, Lac Balsam Etisso( lac-balsam artificial bark) German manufacturers. It forms a dense, water-resistant elastic coating on the surface of the crack, has a consistency of thick light gray varnish. Well seals wounds. They do not get wet and not become moldy. The only restriction is to apply in dry weather and after that there should be no rain and frost.

In general, if you are interested in the question of how and how to treat wounds or cracks in trees, you will find in the scientific, popular literature, the Internet, and simply among gardeners, hundreds of recipes of various putties - on rosin, grease, vaseline, wax, turpentineand so on.

There is one person who is fairly well-known in certain circles - Vladimir Vasilievich Grokholsky, Candidate of Biological Sciences, senior researcher at the Institute of Horticulture of the Ukrainian Academy of Agrarian Sciences. It was he who, collecting various garden fruit recipes for the treatment of wounds of fruit trees, tried them out in practice. The conclusion that he made after years of testing - none of the proven garden vars is not an effective tool for healing the wounds of fruit trees. Some of them may have a wound conservation effect, but not a healing effect. There are those who, on the contrary, harm trees. In addition, a practical scientist came to the conclusion that none of the refined petroleum products is suitable as a basis for preparing garden pitch, that is, they are not compatible with the living cell of the tree.

On the basis of practical experiments Grokholsky V.V.Found such a tool for the basics of garden putty. This is lanolin - a fatty product( extracted from sheared sheep wool), which is used in cosmetology, pharmaceuticals in the manufacture of creams, ointments, and the basis for drugs. Practical experiments have shown that wood, a living cell responds well to lanolin.

Over time, the scientist picked up substances that, when added to the lanolin base in a certain proportion, stimulate the development and renewal of the cells of the tree, help the wound to heal faster, which, plus to everything, hinder the reproduction of harmful pathogenic cells.

Thus, the garden putty “Blagosad” was developed, which helps to heal wounds on the tree, speeds up the process of their healing every two.

If you succeed in acquiring it, then, for sure, you will be convinced of its effectiveness. It is very economical and perfectly not only preserves wounds in trees, but heals them.

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