A friend of mine has a Cornus kousa which has been steadily missing large patches of its bark. I will attach some pictures of it. We can't figure out if it is squirrels or rats or mountain beavers or some sort of disease or insect. Does anyone have any ideas? Thanks. Susie Egan
hi for me is the tree that change the bark ,in my country not have squirrels but have mouse, and the mouse eat more bark ,in the pics the trees have a good health(leaves have a good coulor )if is nigth animals the solution is that you are a sentry nigth with ligth....alex
It's not animal damage. Cornus kousa has naturally exfoliating bark. What you see is the outer layer flaking off leaving the lighter coloured, younger bark exposed. The older it gets, the more pronounced and attractive it will get. Exfoliating Bark #1 Exfoliating Bark #2 UConn - Plant database - Cornus kousa Simon
I freaked out to see my cornus kousa 'Satomi' shedding large plates of bark. It could not have been sunscald as the area was in shade. What a relief if it turns out to be natural exfoliation. Thanks for this post.
