Is there a reason for this?

[1project2many]

I know horses will girdle trees in winter. They'll eat the bark of Poplar / Eastern Cottonwood. From what I read it was something the native Americans would feed to their ponies in the winter.

 

[olyman]

you probably wont believe this but I had a customer who hated his neighbors cottonwood tree because of the airborne fluff

It was about 80 foot tall and 3' diameter. When no one was around he took a chain saw and girdled the thing. I knew he was crazy, I knew he did it, and I expected to see a dead tree in the next summer. Every time I would drive past I would take a look and see if the leaves died off.

That was 4 years ago. I couldn't stand it any longer this fall. I parked and walked up to the trunk. The wounds had all healed over just like any regular pruning cut.

tree still seemed healthy, no dead limbs, no die back, never would have believed it had I not seen myself

copper nails..............

 

[Whitespider]

Twice, in the 20-some years I've lived here, the power company has girdled trees along the south end of the woodlot where the overhead lines run (Ash, Box Elder, Cherry, Hackberry, and Elm). Both times have been in the spring, both times the trees leafed out, remained green, appeared healthy and normal throughout the summer (although the Box Elder and some Ash will send up suckers). The damage becomes apparent the following spring when no leaves appear... the roots have died over winter because they had no sugar stores. Some of the Box Elder root survives because they still send up suckers (is it even possible to kill Box Elder ).

I've also cut down Sugar Maple and Black Maple in January and February... big ones. In late March and April the stump will bleed moisture and sap to the point it runs down the sides and onto the ground... the whole stump, even in the center. The outermost xylem may be the only "living" xylem, and it may "actively" pump moisture up the tree... but the "dead" xylem is still "passively" doing the same.

This from the USDA Forestry Service (page 3). Note it states that severing the sapwood "reduces" flow to the leaves, not "stops" it, and may even increase the suckering.

Girdling severs the bark, cambium, and sometimes the sapwood in a ring extending entirely around the trunk of the tree. If this ring is wide enough and deep enough, it will keep the cambium layer from growing back together. When the phloem layer is completely cut, the tree can no longer transport carbohydrates produced in the needles or leaves to the roots. The roots die when the carbohydrates in them have been exhausted, a process that may take several years. Severing the sapwood hastens the death of the crown (by reducing the flow of water, stored substances, and inorganic nutrients to it), but may also encourage sprouting because water and nutrients that can no longer be used by the foliage are available for sprouting.

http://www.fs.fed.us/t-d/pubs/pdfpubs/pdf99242809/pdf99242809pt01.pdf

In other words... the idea behind girdling is to kill the roots first, not the crown. Prematurely killing (or sickening) the crown may cause the roots to sucker... meaning, you have not killed the tree‼ Which was the friggin' point in the first place‼
*
*

 

[Ronaldo]

My horses girded a walnut tree. Killed it dead. I don't know what their reason was for doing it was. They are fed good. Walnut has to taste nasty.

I think horses chew out of boredom, get 'em a ball to play with.