Mystery of the sycamore

[rangersarah2]

As we are trying to get rid of sycamore we ring-barked some mature trees about three years ago, but the trees have continued to thrive. I've checked them really carefully and can't see any way that this can be happening. Any ideas?

[loripo]

There was a similar thread a couple of years ago, but I think that was deer damage...
http://www.wildaboutbritain.co.uk/fo...ost209191.html
might give a clue.

[rangersarah2]

Flippin' 'eck Lori, how do you remember stuff like that?

I do know that the cambium layer is completely gone with the ring-barking, so suppose it must be root grafting. Can't really get my head around how the crown keeps flourishing though.

Any explanation or other ideas welcomed.

[loripo]

I do a lot of wandering thru old threads Having a good memory for useless facts helps I usually remember that I've seen something even if I don't remember the details (Says she hurrying to add apostrophes)

[eeyore]

Originally Posted by rangersarah2

Flippin' 'eck Lori, how do you remember stuff like that?

I do know that the cambium layer is completely gone with the ring-barking, so suppose it must be root grafting. Can't really get my head around how the crown keeps flourishing though.

Any explanation or other ideas welcomed.

i think some trees have a sort of secondary cambium layer further into the trunk - also the primary cambium can heal itself.

my advice just fell the blighters and treat the stumps with roundup and wettable b - the deadwood habitat on the floor will be nearly as valuable as the standing deadwood - assuming of course that you dont choose to extract the timber for firewood or crafts

[rangersarah2]

Thanks Eeyore. My head is now full of a hundred other questions, but I will do some research before I ask them all, otherwise you will start charging by the hour.

[eeyore]

thats okay ask away - thats whats wabs here for - but i'm going to bed as ive wall to wall meetings tommorow (what fun) so you wont get any answers fromme tonight.

[The Woodman]

Depends how the ringbarking was done in my experience. Sometimes small portions of cambium remain viable if done with a chainsaw on a larger specimens. The very act of repositioning feet during the process with the saw can make the operator miss the cut into the wood.

Sycs are tenacious and will continue to grow with the slimmest of cambium, just see how this works with spring/summerGrey Squirrel bark stripping.

There's nothing as satisfying as laying into a Syc with a lightweight axe and brushing neat Glyphosate into the cuts.

[richnfamous]

Sycamore makes good firewood, but even better is to use it for chopping boards, bowls and such, as it can be made very smooth and sheds the smell and taste of the food very well.

[tom00_uk]

came across some oak trees that had managed the same feet the other week, a foot section all the way round clearly removed and yet they were still in full leaf and happy some years later

[The Woodman]

There were a group of Nobel and Grand Firs on the first estate I worked on that had been part ring barked to improve seed production. Apparently, this puts the tree under stress resulting in a heavy seed crop in order to survive.

The two semi circular rings almost met, there were two very slim diametrically opposed viable strips of cambium on these 150' trees which survived the experience. The seeds were collected and used in the commercial nursery.

[rangersarah2]

Eeyore - the first question that comes to mind is how far in would a secondary cambium layer be?

Not sure whether it's nice to hear that other people take delight in killing sycamore or not.

The people who ring barked the sycamore removed about a foot of the bark and cambium layer, and seem to have done it really well. The problem with felling the trees is that they are mature trees in a new woodland. Felling them would take out a bunch of the young trees. If I ring-barked lower down, and brushed herbicide on the new wound do you think that would do the trick?

It just shows how determined they are to survive.

[The Woodman]

Satisfying rather than taking delight in, rangersarah2, as all axework is.

[rangersarah2]

Originally Posted by The Woodman

Satisfying rather than taking delight in, rangersarah2, as all axework is.

Axework? Give me my chainsaw any day . Get your point though, I hate killing or hurting trees, but love the process.

[The Woodman]

Agreed.

I know you asked the question of eeyore and I hope you won't mind me saying this.

What you suggest will work with the herbicide. If you can let the tree stand without any liability issues, it will provide much useful habitat as it rots. As the branches fall naturally, damage limitation is much reduced for the young standing trees. In about five years there will only be the stumps of the larger branches left.

If and when the trunk needs to be felled accurate directional felling will be less damaging than felling a newly dead or live tree with a "hard" crown.

[rangersarah2]

We would like to leave the deadwood standing. Because the mature trees are in the middle of the woodland it gives us good opportunity without risking them landing on someone's head (unless they are tresspassing, in which case, tough). It's not good that we usually have to take down deadwood because of the risk of it falling on the footpath. Unfortunately H & S has to take priority. It's a shame that the woodpeckers lose out.