I am currently living in Toronto, Canada. I have a dwarf Red Dragon Japanese Maple planted in the front yard and it has been doing good, healthy for the last 3 years until yesterday I started to notice that the bark starting to peel or splitting off the trunk. I am just wondering what is happening to it? One thing is we did have a very harsh winter last year and a stretch of 4-5 days when the temperatures were hovering above 38 celcius this summer but the tree seems ok in the spring until now. Anyone out there can help me out. I will be very sad if this tree die.... I have attached some pictures of the tree from early spring to summer and now with the tree barks splitting off from the trunk.
That area is dead. Probably desiccated by bright sun and cold wind. Elsewhere the cambium is still alive and well. At the edges of this dead area it is producing new bark and wood that now looks like a lip. As it advances to cover the area where it has died, it lifts the old bark which then flakes off. It will likely be many, many years (decades maybe) until the damaged area is again covered like it once was. In the meantime this region of your tree will have a shari - an area of exposed 'deadwood' that is sometimes prized in bonsai. Many don't like this kind of thing on maples, but it could, in fact, make it a more interesting tree. IMHO, there is nothing to be done, just be patient with it, but you may consider placing/planting something beside it that would provide more shelter/shading of it in winter, relocating it, and/or replacing it with a hardier variety/species.
