Deliberately wounding trees

[sean freeman]

This is definitely true today, but it hasn't always been. Earlier practice was to use crab stock and grow big trees, which survived centuries and definitely became veteran, since the middle usually rotted out. There is therefore a reasonable amount of literature on the subject from this era - it's not very collated but, for example, there are some indicative points in Evelyn's Sylva (1669 first edition, much more comprehensive in the expanded third edition of 1679 which includes Pomona) and I recall there being something specifically on mulberries in Culture des Muriers (Nismes, 1763). There is also a bit in The Gardener's Assistant which dates from the 1880s and it became necessary again during WW2 as part of the dig for victory campaign - Raymond Bush wrote some guides which were collated in one volume.

 

Really good points Alec, I should have been more thoughtful and considered the very long history of orchards in Europe...thank you for raising those examples:thumbup1:

[David Humphries]

David, it seems the regrowth from ax wounds is near nodes; nothing random about it.

 

just scraping around these sites could also work. look for buds w hand lens first.

 

Noted

 

Have you done anything like this Guy?

 

 

 

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[treeseer]

Have you done anything like this Guy?

 

Not that I've successfully documented aka can't find pics.

[Le Sanglier]

That thread on beech reduction jogged my memory onto this one.

So, any results?

[David Humphries]

That thread on beech reduction jogged my memory onto this one.

So, any results?

 

Going up to look at any potential callous growth in a few weeks.

 

Keep em peeled

 

 

 

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[David Humphries]

Going up to look at any potential callous growth in a few weeks.

 

Keep em peeled.

 

The below experiment on callous growth took 2 growing seasons to show any callous growth.

 

Bark removed in May 2008

Last shot June 2009

 

 

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[David Humphries]

Part of yesterdays Ancient Tree Forum visit to the Ashtead Common, was looking at & talking around veteranising trees for habitat to help bridge the habitat gap where the older range of habitat trees are dying & being felled.

 

The work that has been carried out included spiking, creating trunk nest holes, girdling branches and basal bark stripping to mimic horse damage.

 

This is a collection of ongoing field experiments and studies.

 

 

 

 

For further info/images see the spring issue (160) of the Arb Magazine (newsletter) which carries an article by Viki Bengtsson & Reg Harris on 'Veteranisation of trees'

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[David Humphries]

A touch of the old Annex C's today.

Crown management – specialized practices

(Page 57 of BS 3998:2010 (Note 2)

 

This lapsed beech pollard was being retrenched, the upper most branch didn't really have any epicormic growth toward the base of the branch, so the end weight was reduced (leaving a small volume of buds at the end) and the lower section wounded by axe to break through the bark and (hopefully) initiate/stimulate adventitious shoots from any developing callous in the next year or two.

 

 

 

(fairly steep hillside, so terrain/access not suited for tracked mewp)

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[David Humphries]

Re-reducing a ganoderma decayed storm damaged beech today, the guys took the oportunity to axe wound the long bare lateral.

 

Great habitat tree

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[silky fox]

"Axe Wound?"...to create a natural fracture?