Sunscald/freeze-thaw damage that occurs in late winter/early spring. House where I grew up had huge Norway maples that died from sunscald on their trunks that developed during the extreme winters of 76-77 and 77-78. The one survivor had its trunk shaded by the garage. In old days some maples had their trunks "whitewashed" to try and prevent this.

Agreed.

And it's not so much the hard winters that cause this as it is being in a location that daytime winter sun beats on the south and southwest sides of the trunk, or temperatures rise to the point that sap begins to flow and then suddenly at night, cold temperatures arrive, killing the living phloem layers on that side.

And yes, using a white tree wrap or tube on the lower trunk generally prevents this from happening.

That said, Lane, your tree appears to be encapsulating the wound well but will take 2-3 more seasons for that wound to fully close.

Generally speaking, once maples attain a larger size, from what I've seen, around 5"+ caliper, this event tends not to be an issue anymore and can depend +- on what type of maple.

Now in warmer climates, maybe yours too L, I've read that direct sun, during hot weather can cause 'summer sun scald', on certain trees but I'm not familiar with that type of problem in my area, so won't comment on that at all.

Here's my red maple, with damage that showed up last spring. I had a tree tube on it too but we had summer-like temperatures mid-April then a return to teens and twenties and I'm not 100% sure what all happened bc there appears to be a couple small spots with damage from the year before. IME: A narrow wound like this will close up fairly fast.

This Fall, I'm using bright white plastic tubing on this tree and hopefully, it will be the last time I'll have to do this. In most locations, the bark thickens to the point that it protects/insulates itself and no longer needs outside intervention. 🤞

A few years ago, this tree had sun scald, at an exposed spot at the lower trunk and looked a lot like yours. It took almost 3 full seasons to fully encapsulate but looked fine this season.

As an aside: I grew up with a large red maple in our back yard so that's probably the only reason I'm growing this one (sentimental?😉) but right now is on a 'short list'.

thanks Bill. Yeah iI was thinking at least several years for it to heal

Oh no that's a pretty big wound. I hope it recovers with no lasting damage other than cosmetic.

"And yes, using a white tree wrap or tube on the lower trunk generally prevents this from happening."

Do you mean white tube or just any old color tube? I use black corrugated drainage pipe around many of my tree trunks as deer protection.

'Do you mean white tube or just any old color tube? I use black corrugated drainage pipe around many of my tree trunks as deer protection.'

The tubes I'm refering to, are used to protect trees that are susceptible to winter 'Sun Scald'.

White is recommended because it reflects the suns rays away and remains cool so it doesn't affect the temperature of the trees inside the tube.

Black absorbs energy from the suns rays and can get quite hot, at times, during the winter, causing the trees bark to heat up. Exactly what you don't want.

And don't put your tubes on too early, wait until the weather cools in the Fall because if the heat and humidity inside the tubes is too high, it can encourage bugs and molds that can cause problems.

If you are protecting trees, only from deer rubs, there are numerous articles on this forum describing how to do that.