Yessir
You have sunscald on that tree. I've seen some that eventually recovered and others that never quite recovered and ended up with decay that never healed. It depends on the severity. I would recommend lightly scraping off the dead bark back to where it is still green and attached to the tree. Also lightly scrape the green edge - but not too much. What you are hoping for is for the bark to start growing back and filing in the space - like it does where you prune off a limb.
deerhunterforum.com
I hope your tree heals. I’ve started using aluminum trim material in the cages to shade my trees. I bought a roll of thin aluminum trim and cut off pieces and attach to the cages. But anything that would shade the southwest side should work well.
Yes next winter, if vegetation is missing again, I’ll attach something to the cages.
It seems most of our fruit trees are holding up okay so far this spring, despite the drought, but I will take water with me today and water this tree, I’m assuming it will be stressed after the sunscald and now hopeful attempt to heal.
I have a trick where I mix leftover white latex paint and builders sand about 50/50 and paint the trunks of all my fruit trees below the soil to around 3' high every other year, this prevents sunscald, buck rubs, mice damage, rabbit damage, aphids, powdery mildew, and slows down insect damage such peach tree borers.
Yes, that sounds like a good thing to do. I had one guy in the extreme north to tell me that white paint didn’t stop sunscald on his trees. But he is the only person who has told me that.
That may just work. If it doesn’t, you haven’t lost anything but a little time.
