I have a couple sad instances of ornamental trees suffering a remarkable splitting of the bark longitudinally. The first is a styrax japonica Carillon (a weeping form of the species). It's about 15 yrs old and 8ft tall. It has flowered 'OK' but had an exceptional weeping form. The main planting deficiency is too much shade, as neighboring plants overgrew it and created too much shade. I presume the shady situation diminished the bloom. But this spring I noted a longitudinal fissure in the bark. The plant hasn't shown any indication of leafing out, so I presume it's dead (pic #1).
Being fairly accustomed to plants dying for now particular reason, I mourned briefly, then moved on.
But now, a very nearby acer buergerianum Miyasama Yatsubusa, also 15yr old, is showing the same bark-fissuring phenomenon. It's hard to see in the posts, because I have to have him protected against the deer with a bark protecting apparatus.
My styrax appears dead, no sign of leafing out. But the acer buergerianum is leafing out fine, even on stems distal to the bark-splitting. I have pretty much given up on the styrax, but is there anything I should do to save the buergerianum? (pics #2-4)
