I have a japanese maple that is over twenty years old. I just noticed that it has a large crack down the main part of the trunk and there are wood bugs along it. Should I be worried about the crack and/or the wood bugs? If so, what should I do? Donna in Vancouver
Hi Donna, if there is a crack with wood bugs the odds are that you have a tree with a narrow crotch that has included bark with decay development. Wood bugs (Sow bugs) are indicators of decay, not insects that cause problems to plants per se. The best remedial treatment without seeing the situation would be to gently remove any obviously decayed material and see what is going on in the crotch. If you can give us more info or a picture perhaps we can discuss more effective remedial treatment. For the record, cavity filling and flush cut pruning are not recommended methods of treatment in the current theory.
