Home > Planting trees > Nursery stock selection > Evaluating trunk and branch structure > Branches with bark inclusions
Branches with bark inclusions split easily
This
tree split apart because of the bark inclusion in the union where the
two codominant stems joined (see close-up at right for detail of the
bark inclusion). A bark inclusion is where bark is included in the union
(crotch) of two stems or in the union of a branch and trunk.
A
close-up of the bark inclusion on the tree shown on the left (the outer
edges are indicated with the arrows) shows that bark is actually enclosed
or included in the union where the two stems once joined together. This
clearly shows why included bark is a serious defect in shade trees.
