I have a beautiful specimen Japanese Maple. We planeted it about 3 or 4 years ago. It is about 5 1/2 feet tall. I noticed a crack in the bark on the main trunk. It almost looks a blister that popped open. This crack in the bark is about 1 1/2 ". What should I do about this? Put a bandage on it? I have heard that tar is no longer used on trees. Help! I don't want to lose my tree. There are a couple of small branches that appeared to be dead and I pruned them off. These branches were 1/8 - 1/4".
thanks
jeanne