Question
I have a new tree, only planted about 5 wks ago, someone told me that the trunk needs to be wrapped during the winter and the tree topped. Are those things true? If so, what do you wrap the trunk with? The tree is about 10-12 ft tall. Thanks.
Answer
Do not top the tree--in fact topping of any tree is not good for the tree. Any pruning should be done to the lower limbs never to the top limbs. A tree this young needs no pruning let it grow to see what shape it grows into.
Tree wraps for maples does prevent sun scald. Maples have thin bark and protecting the trunk during the winter will prevent this.
Young thin-barked trees often are wrapped during the winter to help prevent trunk injury called sun scald.
This damage often occurs on the south and west sides of young trees that have not yet formed their protective corky bark. Mild winter daytime weather warms the cambium layer. The cells in the cambium then become vulnerable to low night temperatures.
Tree wrap is often used to protect young trees from this type of injury. A rule of thumb is to wrap the tree around Thanksgiving and to remove the wrap around Easter, usually in late March or April.
Tree wrap left on during the summer months provides a great place for insects to hide and disease to develop.
Check with your local nursery for one of these wraps--the paper wrap seems to be the best.
