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30 year old maples #930592
Asked May 04, 2026, 5:26 PM EDT
our 30 year old maples are losing bark from the ground up to about 30-36 inches. squirrels are starting to pull bark off. Remedies? Wraps?
Dakota County Minnesota
Expert Response
Jeff,
Certain maple species, like the silver maple, tend to have bark naturally peel intro strips and sometime fall as they age and grow older.
If you can see the heartwood, then it is likely NOT natural shedding. There could be other problems causing stress to the tree which can cause bark shedding. One that can often hit maple species is called sunscald, which can slough off bark as the tree tries to "heal" from a type of winter injury.
Squirrels sometimes can cause problems on branches, but it is rare for trunks of mature trees to be affected.
Long story short, I cannot tell without photos.
Best,
Shane
