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The interaction between hardwood (Sugar Maple) and softwood (Black Spruce) surfaces and N and O atom species produced in the flowing late afterglow of a surface‐wave microwave plasma column in N2‐O2 gas mixtures was investigated using a NO titration method combined with optical emission spectroscopy. Results showed two distinct atom loss regimes following their interaction with wood surfaces: a recombination regime at low oxygen concentrations (<1% O2) and an etching regime by O atoms at higher oxygen concentrations (>1% O2). The etching reaction was confirmed by surface profilometry measurements, with the formation of sub‐millimetre trenches between low‐density early wood and high‐density late wood regions. Recombination dynamics of O and N atoms over smooth and roughened wood regions are also compared. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]