Mary Jo DiLonardo has worked in print, online, and broadcast journalism for 25 years and covers nature, health, science, and animals. Young trees sometimes have smooth bark that's unbroken by ridges.

Every garden is a thing of beauty in the growing seasons — spring bulbs, summer flowers and fall foliage all carry on with extravagance. But winter is coming, so the colorful garden superstars will ...

Why do trees have bark? Julien, age 6, Melbourne. This is a great question, Julien. We are so familiar with bark on trees, that most of us just take it for granted. But bark is one of the most complex ...

So often we choose a tree because of its flowers, leaves, fall color or its fruit. Often, we forget about the bark. However, on many trees, the bark is the most interesting part of the tree. This can ...