[Arid_gardener] splitting bark on ficus

[M Gotway]

Hi,

I have a ficus tree next to the house in our south-facing backyard.  
This ficus was damaged with the freeze last year. Most of the limbs  
had to be pruned all the way to the trunk. Today, I noticed the bark  
is split along most of the trunk. The trunk appears dark brown in  
color underneath the splitting bark. Does anyone know what is causing  
the bark to split? Does this indicate disease?

Thank you!
Mary