We planted trees in our yard 30 years ago after we built our house. Some were Hackberry and American Linden. One of the hackberry showed up with verticle cracks in the trunk this spring. It has four cracks, now. We cut off one of the branches because of the weight and I was afraid that it would break off at the ground. But I think the tree will have to go as it has cracked to the ground. Just today while feeding the birds, I noticed that our American Linden has a crack starting at the bottom and going upwards to the top. It probably is half way up allready. What is causing this to happen? Is it weather related? This tree will probaly have to go as well. Connie

HI Connie, sorry for the delay in reply but I have been out of the office. Vertical cracks are often caused by rapid temperature changes on young trees with thin bark. As long as they are not very wide we dont like to see them but they are generally not a big deal. trees tolerate narrow vertical cracks much better then horizontal cracks. I would wait until after spring when they leaf out to see how wel lthey leaf out. this does not have to mean their demise. good luck, sandy