A long vertical split opened up in my trunk over the winter
A straight vertical crack in the bark, usually on the south or southwest face, often several feet long. It typically shows up in the coldest stretch of winter, sometimes with an audible bang. In summer it closes nearly shut; the next winter it reopens in the same line. Over years a raised, lipped ridge of callus wood — a frost rib — builds along both edges. On maples it may weep dark sap in spring.
Not urgent
This is a split in the wood itself, not just the bark, running from the outside toward the center. For the tree it means the outer wood is now open to air and water, and it will respond by walling the injury off and growing over it. Most trees live with a frost crack indefinitely and a healthy one closes it and carries on. The lasting significance is that the crack is a permanent line of weakness and a doorway for decay, so a trunk with one is a trunk you monitor rather than a trunk you fix.
What it usually costs
Normally a tree trimming job: $250 to $1,400 around Indianapolis, depending on size and access. A range, not a quote.
A long vertical split opened up in my trunk over the winter by town
- A long vertical split opened up in my trunk over the winter in Indianapolis56
- A long vertical split opened up in my trunk over the winter in Carmel42
- A long vertical split opened up in my trunk over the winter in Fishers49
- A long vertical split opened up in my trunk over the winter in Noblesville32
- A long vertical split opened up in my trunk over the winter in Westfield33
- A long vertical split opened up in my trunk over the winter in Zionsville37
- A long vertical split opened up in my trunk over the winter in Greenwood26
- A long vertical split opened up in my trunk over the winter in Avon27
- A long vertical split opened up in my trunk over the winter in Plainfield24
- A long vertical split opened up in my trunk over the winter in Brownsburg25
- A long vertical split opened up in my trunk over the winter in Speedway48
- A long vertical split opened up in my trunk over the winter in Lawrence61
- A long vertical split opened up in my trunk over the winter in Beech Grove48
- A long vertical split opened up in my trunk over the winter in Greenfield29
- A long vertical split opened up in my trunk over the winter in McCordsville45
- A long vertical split opened up in my trunk over the winter in Fortville45
- A long vertical split opened up in my trunk over the winter in New Palestine43
- A long vertical split opened up in my trunk over the winter in Cumberland45
- A long vertical split opened up in my trunk over the winter in Franklin19
- A long vertical split opened up in my trunk over the winter in Bargersville27
- A long vertical split opened up in my trunk over the winter in Mooresville25
- A long vertical split opened up in my trunk over the winter in Camby24
- A long vertical split opened up in my trunk over the winter in Martinsville12
- A long vertical split opened up in my trunk over the winter in Danville23
- A long vertical split opened up in my trunk over the winter in Pittsboro30
- A long vertical split opened up in my trunk over the winter in Whitestown31
- A long vertical split opened up in my trunk over the winter in Lebanon19
- A long vertical split opened up in my trunk over the winter in Sheridan25
- A long vertical split opened up in my trunk over the winter in Cicero31
- A long vertical split opened up in my trunk over the winter in Shelbyville14
Other tree problems
- The bark is falling off my tree
- The top of my tree is dying
- There are carpenter ants in my tree trunk
- My tree splits into two trunks and it looks like it's coming apart where they meet
- They dug and graded and parked right next to my tree during the build, and now it looks bad
- The trunk is cracked / the tree split down the middleurgent
- I think this tree is dead
- Something stripped the bark off my young tree
- My tree is dropping leaves in July like it's already fall
- I think my ash tree has that beetle
- My tree stood in water after the yard flooded and now it looks sick
- There's a big mushroom growing out of my tree
- There's a root wrapped around the base of my tree
- Half the tree is dead and the other half looks fine
- There's a big branch hanging in the treeurgent
- My tree is hollow inside