Pine tree bark pulling away from tree.

[medic149]

Hoping someone might be able to give me some advice here.

 

I have a very large pine tree, fairly close to our camp, where the bark is pulled away from the tree.  I noticed a couple of chunks of bark on the ground and saw that the very thick bark was pulling away from  the tree leaving a gap between the bark and the tree.  My first thought is water damage because the "Y" in the main part of the tree above it looks like it might be funneling water down that way and there is a lot of moss on the tree.

 

I've included some pictures that show that the bark is pulled away and the wood underneath is darkened.

 

Any thoughts?  Is this causing rot at the base of the tree?  I hate to loose the tree, but because it is so close to the camp, I am concerned.

 

Thanks in advance for any advice anyone has.

 

AJ

[openspaceman]

Looks like the dark patches are from previous mechanical damage, the more serious problem is the narrow fork with bark inclusion which looks like it may be separating, if so one stem will likely fall some time but further inspection of this is necessary.

[Dan Maynard]

I think you're right to be concerned, large areas of bark flaking off is not a good sign, but advice from photos is really that you need to have someone competent in to visit and make a proper assessment.

 

I think the water probably does funnel down that way but unlikely to be the cause of the problem. My guess would be heat from a fire, you don't need to get bark very hot to kill off the cambium layer just under the surface.

[Excels1or]

As above, you'll need someone to have a proper look at that. There's quite a lot of reactionary growth over the included bark at the union