hello i have a corkscrew willow i planted 2 years ago and is now about 6 or 7 feet tall and i was looking at it today and noticed some marks on the trunk and thought it was an animal scratching at it than as i looked down further toward the ground and saw that the bark split at the base about 3 inches up from the soil line. to me it looks like maybe the wind was twisting it and as a result the bark split and left stress cracks going up the trunk but that just a guess. so if anyone knows of a solution or advice please help me out. i was thinking their might be some sort of wrapping to put around the trunk and than was thinking i would stake it real well for a few years......