Tree Girdling

[TNhobbyfarmer]

I recently used a chainsaw to girdle two trees. I made two continuous rings on each tree. A couple of weeks later I revisited those trees expecting to see mostly dead leaves. They both looked very healthy with no evidence of dying. Does this take longer than I expected? How quickly should I expect to see results?

 

[dooleysm]

I don't remember how long it took when it finally worked, but we did a tree in a similar fashion one fall at the cemetery where I worked. The first attempt did not get a deep enough cut. Went back some number of weeks later and made another, deeper cut, which worked as expected.

I don't remember how long any of the intervals were, but after a couple of weeks I would expect to see something.

 

[nate_m]

I can't speak to the results but I am curious about the method.

Other than a dead tree, what are you trying to do? Just curious....

 

[schmism]

when he large maple that was rotted out caught on fire (shortly after the house finished burning down) it burnt everything out of the center except the outer inch of wood which was still green keeping the last 2 or so branches alive up top.

in other words, aim for the bark and about an inch more (if its a decent diameter tree, mine about 30" diam)

 

[TNhobbyfarmer]

I can't speak to the results but I am curious about the method.

Other than a dead tree, what are you trying to do? Just curious....

Just a dead tree....that's all I'm trying to accomplish.

 

[Skyco]

I kill large Tree of Heaven on my NC property by drilling about a 1" hole into the trunk 6" or so deep at a downward angle and filling with a mix of triclopyr (Brush-B-Gone) and glyphosate (Round Up).

 

[tallyho8]

I was curious about why you don't just cut it down with the chainsaw since you have one already. It is probably just as easy as girdling it and then you will know where and when it will fall and not have to face the possibility of it falling someday on something or someone who happens to be there.

 

[SPIKER]

I've girdeled a good number of trees. one reason for girdling is fire wood. leave it stand so it drys faster, other reasons might be to kill it ASAP and you don't have time to deal with it then & there but want a head start.

depth on big maples you need 3+ inches to kill them, others are less but mostly size Dependant bigger tree will have a little more cambium layer that caries food up into leaves... (I think the layer is/was called cambium anyhow).

also used to manage stands of timber where having smaller low quality trees which can be left for wildlife as they die...

mark

 

[Charlesaf3]

In general dead trees are dangerous... they fall randomly on things, and they can do all sorts of weird and dangerous things while chainsawing them.

I'd girdle rarely, and cautiously.

 

[jpbear]

We gridle trees all the time. Some trees will die quickly, like sassafras, from one ring. Others, like aspen, will take a year or two to show signs of dying no matter how many rings you put in them. One reason to girdle is because felling the tree could damage small potential timber trees. Also they will not rot as quick as they would on the ground. And yes I agree that a dead tree can be dangerous but just have to be very careful when working in the woods.

 

[RonMar]

How far apart did you make the rings? Removing the bark between the chainsaw rings will help to dry out that cambium layer and keep it from feeding the tree. A hand ax should peel the bark OK, and help open up the outer layer with cuts to help it dry. I have seen it done with one chainsaw pass and then ax cuts from above down intothe saw cut, to remove the bark 3"-4" above the cut.

Nothing better than dead standing for firewood. Back when I was growing up, before naturally dead standing trees were called "habitat trees" and placed off limits as potential firewood in most national forests, that was what we went out specifically to harvest for firewood. Already dry, ready to burn that season. Easier to split and lighter to carry...

 

[TedLaRue]

There's a good bit of liquid remaining in the trunk even after you girdle it. I've seen broken off trees leaf out and try to grow. At the "green" 30% moisture content, an 8' long 2x4 could contain as much as 3 gallons of water. A large tree trunk will contain much more.

I think if you girdled a tree when it was dormant (all the sap in the roots) it would die faster than if you girdled it during the summer.

I've had meadow mice (voles) girdle 4" diameter apple trees, and they're only nibbling through the outermost bark, and it usually takes two seasons for them to die. The first summer they leaf out, but the leaves are pretty yellow and sorryful looking. The next summer it hardly leafs out at all.

 

[RonMar]

It takes years for a girdled tree to dry out. Even split wood takes quite a bit of time to season in the woodshed.

 

[Highbeam]

So since the tree is dead and the roots might start to rot, do you suppose a dead girdled tree is more likely to blow over in the winter winds and flip the stump up with it? That would be handy.

 

[SPIKER]

highbeam: usually they will BREAK OFF at the girdle point. at least that has been MY experiance. I've done probably 100+ trees this way in a pine stand (killing the mixed hardwoods and too closely spaced pines.) in this case removing them was impossible due to inter growth of upper branches. (i.e. self supporting using the other trees. I had some populars (6~10" DBH) growing up & out of the stand of pines as well as maples & oaks. I girdled the JUNK, (left some hardwoods due to straightness and value vs pines value. the stuff on the edges broke off at/around the girdle leaving a few still standing inter-hooked with the pines. eventually these will rot enough to fall though the pines causing a lot less damage vs dropping them into and pulling them out of the still standing pines..

Firewood drying it also works well, if you have little storage space (stacked space) you can leave them stand dead for a good number of years, they will dry and stay dry vs dropping them into wood stacked/bucking them leaving them in the woods bugs will eat a pile/stacked much faster than standing dead as well. I have a lot of wind/ice downed parts that I bucked 3~4 years ago in woods, that are near useless unless you have outside wood burner. then there are beetle killed trees that were dead when I bought my place still standing (elms mostly) that are dry & solid as a rock! the popular is soft after 2 seasons... and useless if bucked & left in woods 6 months...


in some cases they will rot off the roots and fall pulling stump out with it... I usually try & get them down b4 then unless there are a lot of widow makers up in tops. then it seems safer to let fall.

Mark M

 

[RonMar]

So since the tree is dead and the roots might start to rot, do you suppose a dead girdled tree is more likely to blow over in the winter winds and flip the stump up with it? That would be handy.

Like Spiker said, they usually break. The root system stays relatively in-tact and moist and retains I would think most all it's strength...

 

[Highbeam]

Rats. Always looking for an easy way to deforest.