My Acer Griseum suffered greatly this winter. My tree faired fairly well last year after the advice I sought and used here. But unfortunately, it was not as lucky this year. I'm not sure if it was the unseasonably warm December followed by unseasonably cold in February and March .. or if it was the large amount of snowfall we got in two storms. Regardless, my tree suffered many main branches broken and one of the branches left on the tree looks different .. I think it has suffered some type of cracking due to the cold. What I need to know is how should I prune it this year? I did an emergency pruning after the snow had melted and I saw the branches hanging. I would prefer to grow this tree as a tree and not as a bushy type tree as some do. I would appreciate any advice that anyone could give me. I will try to take a picture this morning and put it on this thread.
Looks to me like your Paperbark Maple is doing what it does best...displaying it's paperbark. It looks like live bark underneath the peeled outer layer. I'd say you're fine. Simon
Thanks for the pics! Looks like a strip of sunscald from some time ago (maybe the previous winter) where the bark was killed by warm sun shining on frozen tissue; it has since grown new bark to cover over the damaged area. This new wound-covering bark is rough, and paler in colour than the normal bark.
Thanks for the great response everyone. The reason I'm worried about this one branch is that it is the only one that shows this kind of damage (about 0.5m long). As mentioned I do wrap as much of the tree as I can (trunk included). Well I guess all I can do is try. I really like the look of this tree and hopefully as it matures it will be able to better withstand mother nature. ... Thanks alot everyone
The tree looks fine to me Griseum is very slow growing (at least over here it is). My own tree is about the same size girth as your own, and survives our winters here without problems (we might get down to minus 12C at worst) I think you are going in the right direction
