# Ringing a tree????



## komatsuvarna (Dec 1, 2010)

Any you fellas ever herd of ringing a tree? I reckon it helps it dry out while its still standing.


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## Whitespider (Dec 1, 2010)

"Ringing" kills the tree.
Power company's will "ring" trees in rural or remote locations that have the potential of growing into the wires, thereby killing the tree before branches reach the wires. It's cheaper to "ring" and let mother nature take the tree down than it is to remove or trim the tree after the branches get into the wires. It won't do much to help dry the wood, as long as the bark clings to the tree it will hold moisture causing the wood to get "punky" and rotten. Trees that shed their bark relatively soon after death (such as elm) will dry from the top down without much, if any, rot. Trees that hold onto their bark long after death (such as Burr Oak and Black Walnut) will rot before they dry.


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## pook (Dec 1, 2010)

Whitespider said:


> "Ringing" kills the tree.
> Power company's will "ring" trees in rural or remote locations that have the potential of growing into the wires, thereby killing the tree before branches reach the wires. It's cheaper to "ring" and let mother nature take the tree down than it is to remove or trim the tree after the branches get into the wires. It won't do much to help dry the wood, as long as the bark clings to the tree it will hold moisture causing the wood to get "punky" and rotten. Trees that shed their bark relatively soon after death (such as elm) will dry from the top down without much, if any, rot. Trees that hold onto their bark long after death (such as Burr Oak and Black Walnut) will rot before they dry.


if u notch the tree so it dont fall, will it drain the tree above the notch?


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## Guido Salvage (Dec 1, 2010)

Ringing or "girdling" a tree was a common practice in the old days for clearing land. In many instances if the land was being used for pasture the tree would later be taken down and the stump left. Often a tract of land cleared in this manner would be termed a "deadening" and would be named for the owner. In the Blue Ridge places such as Comer's Deadening and Kite's Deadening obtained their names from this practice.


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## kyrob (Dec 1, 2010)

I ring thorned honey locust if I plan on cutting them the next year. It lets the thorns dry out and they don't stick you as bad. Makes the tree easier to saw up too.

Rob


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## stihl sawing (Dec 1, 2010)

I never girdled one, Was always afraid a limb or the tree would fall on someone. I've been in the woods hunting before and seen girdled dead trees. Big limbs had hit the ground already. Would have been bad if some one was sitting under that tree. I guess if you owned your own land and nobody ever went out there it would be ok. Also maybe a small tree would be ok, But the ones i seen were huge oaks.


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## komatsuvarna (Dec 1, 2010)

I could see how it could be dangerous in spots. I was in a good ole mom and pop hardware store today and herd 2 older gentlemen talking a little about it....but sounds like its not the thing to do for a firewood tree.


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## barkeatr (Dec 1, 2010)

I DO IT all the time. it really helps me get a jump on getting a full wood shed full of fairly dry wood each year. I find for the most part, the tree is much dryer a year later after girdeling it. Its not as effective for conifers, they seem to withstand a deep girdle. I suspect thier live or water transportation tissue is deeper than a hardwoods cambium layer or something. 

occasionally i forget about the tree, just the other day i stumbled on a pine i girdled two years ago. woodpeckers had moved in, so i suspect i lost some heating value to the bugs but for the most part it was a dry log with good density ( not rotten) 

barkeatr


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## Whitespider (Dec 2, 2010)

pook said:


> if u notch the tree so it dont fall, will it drain the tree above the notch?


No, the notch won't help.

Think of the tree as a sponge. If you dip the sponge into a bucket of water and pull it out, the excess water will run off the sponge (due to gravity); but even after it quits dripping the sponge will be wet enough to squeeze a lot of water from it. In the fall, when a tree stops supplying the top with sap, gravity will cause only excess moisture (if there is any) to drain back into the soil; "ringing" will cause the same thing to happen. A "notch" won't speed that process, and could possibly slow it down? Also, like a sponge, wood will draw moisture up from the soil as far as gravity will allow; so even a dead standing tree with all the bark shed will be "wet" in the lower trunk.

Trees that hold onto their bark after death will rot faster than those that shed their bark. With large oaks for example, the (relatively) smaller bark covered wood will "rot through" faster than the trunk and the tree will drop large limbs, the trunk may stand for many, many years. But elm for example, sheds its bark allowing the smaller wood to dry faster, and many (or all) of the limbs may remain on the tree until it rots off at the trunk... quite often just below ground level. Crotches that hold water will speed the rotting, even when the tree has lost its bark; I occasionally find "bad" wood near crotches and/or at the base of dead, bark-less elm.


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## D&B Mack (Dec 2, 2010)

I ring trees on my father's property that I am going to cut into firewood. Year one - ring the tree; year two - fell, buck & split; year 3 - stack and cover for that year's winter. I only get one week a year to process firewood for him and he is 250 miles from me, so this works for me. Otherwise, have no reason to ring trees. My biggest worry would be ringing a tree and forgetting about it and then I'm not around for when it finally falls.


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## watchamakalit (Dec 2, 2010)

I have never girdled a tree but it seems to me it would be just as easy to fell the tree and leave it lay for a while. Whats the big difference if its standing or laying? Trees will not rot in a years time unless our working in a swamp.....


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## komatsuvarna (Dec 2, 2010)

watchamakalit said:


> I have never girdled a tree but it seems to me it would be just as easy to fell the tree and leave it lay for a while. Whats the big difference if its standing or laying? Trees will not rot in a years time unless our working in a swamp.....



They probably wont rot to nothing in a year, but Id say that they would have some doaty parts if it layed on the ground for a year.


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## D&B Mack (Dec 2, 2010)

watchamakalit said:


> I have never girdled a tree but it seems to me it would be just as easy to fell the tree and leave it lay for a while. Whats the big difference if its standing or laying? Trees will not rot in a years time unless our working in a swamp.....



I just find it keeps it cleaner and drier if left standing. Plus, I am cutting that wood in the winter outside of Pittsburgh. So there is a good chance for snow on the ground, makes it easier when coming back to buck it up.


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## ropensaddle (Dec 2, 2010)

stihl sawing said:


> I never girdled one, Was always afraid a limb or the tree would fall on someone. I've been in the woods hunting before and seen girdled dead trees. Big limbs had hit the ground already. Would have been bad if some one was sitting under that tree. I guess if you owned your own land and nobody ever went out there it would be ok. Also maybe a small tree would be ok, But the ones i seen were huge oaks.



Yup I see it in our forest its a silly practice to me. They want only pine when diversity makes the best environment imho.


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## ropensaddle (Dec 2, 2010)

Whitespider said:


> "Ringing" kills the tree.
> Power company's will "ring" trees in rural or remote locations that have the potential of growing into the wires, thereby killing the tree before branches reach the wires. It's cheaper to "ring" and let mother nature take the tree down than it is to remove or trim the tree after the branches get into the wires. It won't do much to help dry the wood, as long as the bark clings to the tree it will hold moisture causing the wood to get "punky" and rotten. Trees that shed their bark relatively soon after death (such as elm) will dry from the top down without much, if any, rot. Trees that hold onto their bark long after death (such as Burr Oak and Black Walnut) will rot before they dry.



No we did what was called hack & squirt basically the same but machete and tordon 101 or garlon now remedy applied no hacking required but drift potential and ten thousand regulations for plain ole commonsense. Windy over 5 no spray today, rain sorta pointless to be out in anyway Now spike thats the stuff lol especially in sugar cube form. It has a five year kill but its slow kill so you have to be careful to not overdo it.


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## johnzski (Dec 2, 2010)

girdling is used around here to eliminate aspen to let hardwood regenerate. If you cut live aspen the roots will regen new growth. if it's girdled the roots die too


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## stihl sawing (Dec 3, 2010)

johnzski said:


> girdling is used around here to eliminate aspen to let hardwood regenerate. If you cut live aspen the roots will regen new growth. if it's girdled the roots die too


Now that would make sense to do it.


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## CountryBoy19 (Dec 3, 2010)

pook said:


> if u notch the tree so it dont fall, will it drain the tree above the notch?



Trees don't just "drain out" if you cut them, it's not like the water was forced up there with pressure and it will drain back out when you relieve the pressure. Capillary action draws the water up there, and even if the tree is dead, the capillaries are still there, the water isn't going to drain out of the capillaries.


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## pook (Dec 3, 2010)

CountryBoy19 said:


> Trees don't just "drain out" if you cut them, it's not like the water was forced up there with pressure and it will drain back out when you relieve the pressure. Capillary action draws the water up there, and even if the tree is dead, the capillaries are still there, the water isn't going to drain out of the capillaries.


ya, i did some research but if the tree is girdled & notched so that 1/2 the trunk was exposed to air instead of connected to the roots wouldnt the capillary flow from the roots be reduced? asssuming the tree stays upright.


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## 1harlowr (Dec 3, 2010)

It's like any standing dead tree. It will have less moisture in it but still have some. On an oak for instance, the drying time will have several months cut off compared to a fresh green oak. 
I have a 24" white oak that had been standing dead for a couple years. Just cut it up a few weeks ago. It will be ready to burn late this winter. If it was on the ground those two years, it would be dirtier (is that a word???) and would have held a little more moisture.
Dropping a dead tree on top of a layer of snow is a lot easier cutting than under a few inches of snow.


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## pook (Dec 3, 2010)

pook said:


> ya, i did some research but if the tree is girdled & notched so that 1/2 the trunk was exposed to air instead of connected to the roots wouldnt the capillary flow from the roots be reduced? asssuming the tree stays upright.


another factor is that as the tree leaves suck up the water from the roots, CO2 travels down from the leaves into the roots.


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## deerlakejens (Dec 3, 2010)

johnzski said:


> girdling is used around here to eliminate aspen to let hardwood regenerate. If you cut live aspen the roots will regen new growth. if it's girdled the roots die too


I agree that this is the biggest advantage that girdling provides. Lots of trees that will root sucker when cut, like cottonwoods, locusts, some of the flowering plums etc., will die and not sucker if girdled.


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## CountryBoy19 (Dec 3, 2010)

pook said:


> ya, i did some research but if the tree is girdled & notched so that 1/2 the trunk was exposed to air instead of connected to the roots wouldnt the capillary flow from the roots be reduced? asssuming the tree stays upright.



Yeah but what's the point? The tree isn't going to dry any faster? Are you wanting the tree for firewood? You know, the capillary action stops completely when you buck it up for firewood, and the seasoning is increased tremendously once it's split and stacked...

So what's the point of ringing a tree unless you just plan to leave it in place?


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## merlynr (Dec 3, 2010)

My son had a hard maple that the roots had made their way to the septic drain field and plugged up one of the laterals. After digging it up and clearing the roots, I ringed it, not wanting to drop it then as it was hot part of summer and would have to take some fence down also. The leaves started dropping but not too fast. I just didn't want to go thru the root deal again. Later on we dropped it, but didn't seem all that dead.


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## pook (Dec 4, 2010)

CountryBoy19 said:


> Yeah but what's the point? The tree isn't going to dry any faster? Are you wanting the tree for firewood? You know, the capillary action stops completely when you buck it up for firewood, and the seasoning is increased tremendously once it's split and stacked...
> 
> So what's the point of ringing a tree unless you just plan to leave it in place?


point is i'm just axing.
In the case of dropping the tree with leaves on it, I've heard the leaves will continue the capillary so it sucks some water out of the wood & the conclusion was to not cut up the tree until the leaves dry or fall off. Then supposedly when the tree is bucked, the pieces will be lighter to handle


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