Tree Bark

Tree bark is an incredible part of your tree's anatomy. It is designed to protect your trees from pest intruders and physical damage. It comes in all shapes, colors and textures. Each one is specially designed to protect the tree in one way or another. Below is the bark of the floss silk tree, nothing silky about its thorny trunk.

Floss Silk Tree Bark

The most important processes from your tree's growth to your tree transporting nutrients between the leaves and roots occurs just under the surface of the bark in a layer called phloem. Avoid damaging the bark at all cost and never tie anything around a trees trunk or branches.

Rope Tied Around Tree Trunk

Think about the trunk of your fruit tree as your tree's neck. You would never tie anything tight around your neck, so don't tie a rope or anything around the trunk. In the above example this mature tree will soon suffocate and die, all because of a small rope left by a careless gardener.

Tree bark will protect your tree from many pest invaders and physical damage, but no matter how strong the bark, it can't protect it from a girdling rope, wire, or twine.

For more information about fruit trees please join our Backyard Fruit Growers Facebook Page. If you would like to learn how to prune fruit trees please take our Free Fruit Tree Pruning Course.