Master Gardeners of Northern Virginia
Over 40 Years of Growing Gardens and Gardeners
We’ve made bark our featured word for the month and added some other tree-related words (cambium, cuticle, epidermis, parenchyma, periderm, phelloderm, phloem, heartwood, sapwood, xylem) to our MGNV Glossary because April was all about trees. To learn more, click on the links to go directly to the individual Illustrated Glossary pages.
Woody plants can be identified upon close examination of their bark. Variations in color and texture of bark, as well as other characteristics, provide helpful clues to a plant’s identity. Read on to learn more about bark.
Our gardens may lay mostly dormant in this season, but still there are some herbaceous and woody plants with color, form, and texture that can both surprise and delight in the winter landscape.
Mechanical damage is the most preventable of bark injuries because it is often due to impatience, inattention, or ignorance. Careless maintenance practices can damage trees that take decades, not weeks, to grow. While we cannot control the weather, which can cause irreparable bark injury, we can control what plants we purchase and where we choose to locate them—the right plant in the right place increases its chances of surviving weather extremes. Enjoy the amazing photographs in this article on preventing mechanical and weather damage to trees.
A vigorous native tree may be host to many insects, which provide food for birds and omnivorous mammals. A stressed tree is most susceptible to pests, fungi, and disease. Trees have numerous ways to protect themselves; in fact bark is their first line of defense. However, trees sometimes need our help. Learn how to identify damage from borers to birds, invasive spotted lanternfly to spongy moth, and deer to voles as well as what to do about it.
Part 1: Beautiful Bark
Where, beyond snow-covered landscapes, does one search in winter for wonders of the natural world? If one looks carefully at that which winter has laid bare, then the beauty of bark emerges. With no leaves to obscure the view, one can truly appreciate the varying colors, textures, and patterns of deciduous tree barks.
