Wood is considered a source of strength. It is enough to hug him and stand a little, closing his eyes. But no tree will grow if its trunk is left unprotected. What is the bark of a tree called? It is rightly called the skin of a plant, which is a protective cover of the trunk. The bark of a tree occupies about a quarter of its total volume. It depends on the breed, age and growing conditions. The thicker the trunk, the more bark. In mature trees, its volume decreases. On the contrary, it increases if the growing conditions of the tree have deteriorated.
What is the protective layer of the barrel made of?
The bark of a tree is an important part of it. It protects the trunk from damage and harmful effects of the external environment, regulates the process of respiration and nutrition. Any, even the smallest, change in the surface of the bark can lead to the death of the entire tree if left untreated. The structure of the bark of a tree suggests the presence of inner and outer layers.
- Inner layer - lubok. It is represented by living cells, is involved in the transport of nutrients from the crown to the roots of the tree andkeeps his reserve stock. The bast consists of three types of cells and tissues. The most important are the sieve elements. Coniferous trees have cells, while deciduous trees have tubes.
- Outer layer - cork. It's called a crust. The structure of the tree bark provides for a unicellular layer of living cells, which alternately divide in both directions, due to which the tree grows in thickness. The bark directly protects the trunk from environmental influences and consists of three layers. The middle layer of the tree bark contains a special substance - suberin. Thanks to him, its hydrophobicity is ensured.
Tree bark: species
The bark has protective, conductive, healing properties. And it complements the landscape of your site with texture, restrained colors and decorates it in the winter cold. Each tree is different and different: a unique pattern, color, which can be red, white, green, gray and orange, the nature of the surface. On this basis, types of tree bark are:
- Smooth.
- Striated. These longitudinal and transverse stripes are especially clearly visible in oak and ash.
- Scaly species of tree bark are easy to distinguish. The trunk is covered with scales that exfoliate well. A prominent representative is pine bark. Larch is covered with furrowed-scaly bark, which is formed by layering scales one on top of the other.
- Fibrous. This type of bark is characterized by flaking of long longitudinal strips, like in juniper.
- Warty. The bark of this species is characterizedlittle warts. A typical representative is the warty euonymus.
Cortex diseases
Trees, like people, are susceptible to various diseases. From what do they arise? There are many reasons why trees get sick. An indicator of their state of he alth is the bark of a tree. She, like human skin, is very vulnerable. But, unfortunately, she is not able to take care of herself. The bark provides this care to a person, giving him a plentiful harvest in the future or delighting him with his appearance. The protective layer of the trunk is damaged by infectious diseases, pests, animals, frost, sunlight. And sometimes it simply does not keep up with the growth of the plant and cracks, forming deep wounds. Only good care and timely treatment will not allow the tree to die.
Black Cancer
Many tree bark diseases lead to their death. One such disease is black cancer. It begins with the appearance of sinking red-brown spots on the protective layer. The bark rises, breaks and cracks. Affected by black cancer, it is covered with small black tubercles. This is the parasitic fungus.
Often the bark falls off, forming open wounds. The disease develops gradually, affecting the trunk and branches, clasping them in a ring. Sick bark is an excellent place for the fungus to overwinter. Black cancer arises and develops due to burns, cracks and wounds. Weak development of trees accompanies the occurrence of this disease. Black cancer affects fruit trees at any age, but older plants are more vulnerable.
Cytosporosis
This disease often affects old trees that are 20 years old or more. The infection penetrates under the bark of the trunk and branches due to wounds on it received from burns, frost, various pests and large animals. The bark of the tree is covered with a red-brown coating and becomes bumpy over time. Cytosporosis quickly spreads to he althy tissues. For one and a half to two months, the branches completely dry out. In time, the tree will die if left untreated.
dropsy cancer
This tree disease is characterized by dark spots on the bark. Infected areas die, and depressions appear in place of the dead layer. A brown viscous liquid with a repulsive odor flows out of them. This is the dropsy cancer. Young trees die within one year, and old ones after a few years. If the disease has covered most of the bark, the tree can no longer be saved. To prevent the infection from spreading to other plants, they should be dug up and burned.
Infectious diseases and their treatment
How to treat tree bark from black cancer? First of all, the source of infection is eliminated. To do this, burn all the fallen leaves. In them, fungal spores live even in winter. When the annual pruning of diseased branches is carried out, the garden tool must be treated with blue vitriol so as not to infect.
If the bark of a tree is damaged by cytosporosis, you need to remove the affected area and treat this place with copper sulphate. Then cover with var and bandage with a clean, dry cloth.
Circular layer defeat:how to treat?
If the lesion of the bark goes in circles and captures the root neck, the tree may die. And if such a lesion is seen in the upper part of the trunk and branches, the tree has more chances for recovery. Wounds can be healed by grafting cuttings. If this does not help, you need to transplant the bark from a he althy tree. If the wounds are very small, you can wrap them with transparent polyethylene without covering them with pitch.
Lichens and their treatment
By the state of the bark on the trunk and branches of a tree, you can determine whether it is he althy or not. If the protective layer is covered with moss and lichen, there is a high probability of damage to the bark by fungal diseases and pests. Lichens tolerate frost and heat well. Spores of infectious diseases and larvae of various parasites coexist perfectly in them all year round.
How to treat tree bark if it is covered with lichen? Treatment should be carried out in spring or autumn in wet weather. To do this, with a hard nylon or metal brush, lichens are cleaned from the bark. First you need to lay burlap around the tree. After cleaning, all this is burned and buried deep in the ground. The cleaned bark and soil under the tree are sprayed with iron sulphate. You can wash the trunk and branches with a soapy-ash solution. Half a kilogram of ash, one and a half kilograms of lime are diluted in a bucket of water and insisted for several days. After spraying, the trunks and large branches of trees are whitened. The lichens begin to turn red and fall off.
Prevention of cortical diseases
To warnvarious diseases of the bark of trees, you need to regularly carry out prevention. It is as follows:
- The trunk and main branches are cleared of old bark, which prevents the growth and thickening of the tree.
- Mosses and lichens are removed.
- Disinfection in progress. It is needed to destroy moss and lichen spores, pests and their larvae. Damaged tree bark is thoroughly washed with a soapy-ash solution. They also spray the crown, but the solution is diluted with water several times. You can wash the barrel with copper sulphate by dissolving 100-200 g in a bucket of water. In its absence, iron sulfate is used. But it needs more per bucket of water, 600-800 g. Gardeners often use oxalic leaves for disinfection. To do this, on the bark, you need to remove all growths to the very wood, level the wounds along the edges and rub with a sorrel leaf. They will quickly tighten with a new protective layer.
- Cracks after disinfection should be covered with pitch or a mixture of clay and lime. If there is nothing, just whiten.
Often hollows can be seen on the trunk and branches. They eventually lead to the death of trees due to developing infection. They definitely need to be sealed. To begin with, garbage is removed from the hollow, the bark and wood are cleaned from rot. Then disinfection is carried out with iron sulphate. After that, the hollow is sealed with pieces of cork or a mixture of lime with cement and sand. If the hollow is very large, it is clogged with stones, rubble, bricks and poured with cement mortar.
Thermal damage
Trees in progressgrowth are subject to a sharp temperature drop, when during the day the bark is strongly heated by the sun, and at night it cools. This leads to the formation of frost cracks, cracking and sunburn. Thermal damage is dangerous because it causes partial or complete death of the bark, which occurs due to blockage of the vessels through which nutrients move. This disease is called necrosis and is characterized by the sinking of the affected tissues. Frost crackers can be easily identified by the bark separated from the trunk, where pests and all kinds of fungi settle and breed. If frost holes are not identified and neutralized in time, hollows may form.
Tree bark diseases can be caused by the sun's rays, when their direct hit leads to burns. This usually happens with the onset of spring, when the daytime air temperature becomes positive, and the night temperature becomes a big minus. There is a cooling of the internal and external parts of the tree. As they cool, they shrink. Moreover, the outer parts are faster than the inner ones. As a result of this, a rupture of the cortex occurs. To prevent it, tree trunks and branches are whitewashed and tied with burlap before the onset of winter cold.
Prevention of thermal damage to the cortex
- Water the tree regularly from spring to frost.
- Do not apply nitrogen fertilizer late in the fall.
- Whiten trees twice a year. This will protect them from the formation of frost and sunburn. Whitewash smoothes out temperature fluctuations on the bark. Processingthe trunk, skeletal branches and their lower part are exposed to lime solution. In order for the lime to adhere better to the bark, you need to add 50 g of wood glue to a bucket of mortar.
