Girdled roots

David Humphries · November 18, 2012

Some girdled roots on an avenue of beech trees on one of our sites. Some are easy to deal with others not so due to their size.

Good documentation Matthew.

Have any of these been severed since the shots were taken?

.

Matthew Arnold · November 18, 2012

Good documentation Matthew.

Have any of these been severed since the shots were taken?

.

Nope. Pictures were taken this morning as saw this thread and decided to look out for it in the Beech avenue.

David Humphries · November 19, 2012

Nope. Pictures were taken this morning as saw this thread and decided to look out for it in the Beech avenue.

Then I guess the question is........

'To sever or not to sever?

Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer

the Constrictions and Compressions of outrageous Girdles,

Or to take a Saw against a sea of troubles'

Over to you then :biggrin:

Matthew Arnold · November 19, 2012

Then I guess the question is........

'To sever or not to sever?

Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer

the Constrictions and Compressions of outrageous Girdles,

Or to take a Saw against a sea of troubles'

Over to you then

I would sever the small ones but leave anything bigger than 2 inches to prevent rot getting into the root system. There is one which is about 3-4 inches in diametre which i will leave as it has fused to the butress. My philosophy is if it aint broke don't fix it for trees. We only fell trees as a last resort. The kretz infected Beech on the roadside has been going on for atleast 12 years according to the garage owners and the pub owners. The TO says even though it is an agressive fungus the tree has a very heatlhy crown and therefore doesn't need to come down.

treeseer · November 19, 2012

The big adventitious roots in pic #3 are not girdling, so they are advantageous! :001_tongue:

The girdlers in the other pics look like straightforward pruning opportunities. None appear too large or too likely grafted to be pruned.

Correcting the causes--soil on stem tissue, and soil compaction away from the stem--also seems in order.

David Humphries · February 4, 2013

Woodland oak girdle.

No issue, just because.........

.

treeseer · February 5, 2013

do you think it is from the same tree or another?

either way, not bad to leave, just because they are 1 much smaller than the buttress, so they are likely to be broken as it expands, and 2 well out the buttress, so if they are from the same tree, if they do not breeak, they may well graft.

David Humphries · February 5, 2013

do you think it is from the same tree or another?

either way, not bad to leave, just because they are 1 much smaller than the buttress, so they are likely to be broken as it expands, and 2 well out the buttress, so if they are from the same tree, if they do not breeak, they may well graft.

Not sure where they're from tbh Guy, as its a congested oak, beech and holly woodland.

My guess would be that they are holly.

.