Bark Issue or Perfectly Normal?

[goosetown]

Have two junipers; on both, I'm noticing some bright-white spotting on the trunks. Looks like someone has all of a sudden dripped spots of paint on them. The affected sections of bark, although smaller, tend to crumble away at the touch.

Is this typical of junipers or am I dealing with some kind of pest/mold/fungus? If it's the latter or something else, what's the best way to take care of it?

Thanks in advance - let me know if pictures are necessary and I'll be happy to take some.

G

 

[Vance Wood]

Have two junipers; on both, I'm noticing some bright-white spotting on the trunks. Looks like someone has all of a sudden dripped spots of paint on them. The affected sections of bark, although smaller, tend to crumble away at the touch.

Is this typical of junipers or am I dealing with some kind of pest/mold/fungus? If it's the latter or something else, what's the best way to take care of it?

Thanks in advance - let me know if pictures are necessary and I'll be happy to take some.

G

If you could post a couple of photos it might help. I have never heard of anything like this out side of an insect the name of which excapes me, adlegib or something like that.

 

[Bill S]

Is the bark only crumbly at the white spots??

Is the white stuff fuzzy??

Could it be bird poop??

 

[goosetown]

Yes, no and no. Tried to take a picture of it but my camera wasn't able to pick up the detail. Apologies.

It's not that just the white stuff crumbles off at the touch - the entire piece of bark it covers does. In places, as I said, it looks like someone dripped white paint on the bark. In other places, it looks like a dusting of powder. The spotting is on the trunk/branches; not extensive, but noticeable in several places. The more powdery-looking stuff occurs on stumps where branches have long ago been excised.

Again, it might just be normal weathering or spot-drying; the tree overall is very healthy. Just wanted to double-back and make sure I wasn't dealing with a mold or fungus as it just really showed up recently.

Is the bark only crumbly at the white spots??

Is the white stuff fuzzy??

Could it be bird poop??

 

[goosetown]

Also, if it helps, there are definitely spiders that occasionally spin webs in the foliage that I gently brush out when they appear.

 

[october]

It sounds like bird poop...As far as the spiders go.. Spiders are ok and I usually let them set up house in my trees. They eat other insects so they can actually be beneficial. However, if your webbing is from spider mites, that is a problem.

Rob

 

[goosetown]

I can definitively say the spots have nothing to do with bird excrement. I realize I'm a novice, but I promise I can tell the difference in this case.

 

[Dav4]

I think we're gonna need pictures with at least some detail to figure this out for you.