damaged tree

Hi

I damaged the bark of a white birch I planted last Autum with a strimmer this morning. Will the tree be ok and if not is there anything I can do to help it?

Thanks in advance

 

So long as you didn't 'circle' the whole bark then your tree will probably heal itself. I am assuming that you have just cut into a small area of the bark? If, however, you have damaged the bark right round the tree, you are probably in trouble :(

 

As Sam says it depends on how much damage has been done and how big the tree is....the bigger it is the better if can withstand the strimmer damage. A lot of young trees get damaged and killed in this manner. A good idea is to put a piece of slit plastic piping around the base of the tree. If you haven't got any tie on some thick plastic...doesn't look very nice but will protect young trees until they are better able to withstand the dreaded strimmer.

 

I don't know about Birch, but I planted 100 new trees over christmas, they were decimated by rabbits shortly after, then almost all formed new buds from near the base. I whacked some tree protectors on them (which I should have done in the first place), and last time I checked (a couple of weeks ago) they were doing really well.