While transplanting a japanese maple I accidentialy removed about twelve inches of bark near the base of the plant. What can I do to protect it? Should I wrap it or is these some sort of liquid to protect it?
Probably leave it alone. But the description of damage does not paint a complete picture. Is this 12" of missing bark vertically up and down? 12 linear inches right - not 12 square inches?
If you have removed a horizontal ring of bark from trunk, it will likely die. You girdled the tree, severing the connective tissue that allows the tree to transport water from it's roots to it's leaves, and to transport energy from the leaves to the roots. If you have removed a strip of bark along one side of the trunk, the tree will survive, but in the long run, the wound may cause infection and decay. The larger the wound, the more likely problems will occur. Treatment of wounds is not considered to be effective, and in some cases causes more harm than good. Care must be taken when planting trees to avoid damage to the trunk and root crown, and after planting, protecting the tree from damage is critical as well. Many trees die of "lawn mower blight" where careless mowers bump the tree as they mow, eventually girdling their trees. What a shame.
Actually, it was my neighbour, while transplanting the tree, he damaged some of the bark, so he decided to remove it cleanly. He got a bit carried away and removed a full 12" ring. At first the tree went into shock and all the leaves drooped. He then wrapped the trunk in newspaper, held by tape. The following morning the tree look OK, and so far it seems to be fine.
Do a search and you find detailed pictures how to do an airlayer. It is only possibility to save your tree but it is not guaranteed method either. It looks fine now because water flows up inside of the trunk but dies because photosynthesized nutrients cannot go down inside the bark layer anymore. If you do an airlayering wrap whole naked area of the trunk inside media so it stays moist.
If in fact he cut a complete layer of bark all around your tree he has effectively killed it It will take some time to die, but die it will
As a follow-up, the tree is surviving, there is some new growth but there are also some leaves drying. Another problem I have is with a black oak I planted two and a half years ago. All of the leaves are full of holes. I cannot see any insects on the tree as it is about 20-25 feet tall. Micmac
