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Deer Damaged Bark |
Question:
Can I repair the damage that a buck (male deer) did to a sugar maple in my yard? He used the trunk to rub his antlers. This removed the bark from two sides of the tree. When I planted the tree 2 years ago, the deer ate (?) the bark off one side of the tree. Will this tree still grow with the bark off parts of three sides?The trunk is about 2.5" in dia.. The tree is about 12' high.Minnesota Master Gardeners say:
Deer often polish their antlers and remove the velvet by thrashing trees.There is not much you can do to help the tree except remove loose bark fragments and smooth the edges of the wounds. The tree's potential for recovery depends upon how deeply and completely the underlying cambium (the living part of the trunk just under the bark) has been damaged. You may also want to erect some kind of fence or barrier at least six feet tall to protect the tree in case the deer or another like it decides to thrash the tree again.
Here is a link to a bulletin that discusses deer damage in yards and gardens including the kind that you have described: http://www.extension.umn.edu/projects/yardandgarden/ygbriefs/h462deer-coping.html
