Belting trees

I was just sitting here thinking about the little work I did today and got to wondering. I was wondering how many of you even know without searching what belting trees is / does / what it means?

It's a precursor to taking down trees if you don't want them to leaf out in spring or if you want to kill the tree and let it dry standing. In this case I don't have the energy to deal with them now but I don't want them leafing out before I get to them. I'm clearing for a pond and the trees being removed will be used for firewood or lumber, they won't go to waste. BTW trees left standing dry a LOT a whole lot faster than those on the ground. Granted this can be both good and bad. Dry wood dulls a chainsaw or any blade faster than green wood. Dry wood in a hurry is good if it's late in the season and you suddenly need dry wood and only have a few months for it to dry. I would hazard a guess that a belted standing tree dries about 3 times as fast as the same tree cut and on the ground.  There's more wind off the ground than at ground level plus there is no ground moisture for the tree to syphon from the ground.

To belt a tree all you do is to cut through the sap wood all the way around leaving the heart wood intact.  The sap wood is where 90% of the tree's moisture moves, like our arteries.

These particular trees I want to get the root ball and all when I take them down so this will save me dealing with all the leaves later this year after I push them out with the dozer.  Provided of course I can get it running well enough to work it again this year.

I've grown up with the same thing but heard the term "Girdle".

I have not found myself in a situation where girdling makes sense, but I know that it is a technique utilized for hundreds of years so there must be some good applications.

Timothy Norton wrote:I've grown up with the same thing but heard the term "Girdle".

I have not found myself in a situation where girdling makes sense, but I know that it is a technique utilized for hundreds of years so there must be some good applications.

I've heard that term used too.

It's a handy way to stop them leafing out I'll tell ya that. It was particularly useful when building cabins I have been told. You got dry logs that wouldn't shrink much in a year or two instead of five or more is what I heard.

Timothy Norton wrote:I've grown up with the same thing but heard the term "Girdle".

Me three.

In Australia, we call it Ring barking.
In the early days pf European settlement, the Government granted land to settlers who had to clear the land within  so many years.
It destroyed the soil fertility, biodiversity of flora and fauna from which we have never recovered.

I feel that different parts of the country or even other countries have different words for what you are describing or maybe it might even be a family thing.

Many times when I was a kid, my dad would ring a tree.

These were usually mimosa trees that sprouted too close to the foundation.

Do you need to cut through the bark and cambium or all the way through the sap wood?  On my trees, the sapwood is several inches thick.

+4 for "girdling"

Mike Haasl wrote:Do you need to cut through the bark and cambium or all the way through the sap wood?  On my trees, the sapwood is several inches thick.

+4 for "girdling"

That is some serious sapwood, Mike.  What species are you talking about?  it would likely depend on the species on whether it would be effective or not to fail to go all the way through to the wood.   A tree will bleed sap like crazy if it is girdled/ringed/belted.  That sap would be necessary caloric the energy that would otherwise be used to grow leaves dumping down the lower tree to the ground. You'd have to experiment with the specific tree to see if you are cutting deep enough.  If it fails to leaf out, you've gone deep enough.  it may well be that all you need to do is cut into the sapwood all the way around to bleed it out.    

Hmm, I didn't think it was that much.  Here is what I'm talking about:

 
 

hi mike,
I think that if you get through the bark, past the damp cambium, then you will be good.  I can't be certain, but here's my thinking.   Once you get to the more solid wood, you see the growth rings.  Those dark rings represent the winter or slower growing growth every year.  The lighter rings represent the summer or faster growth.  Together they make up one year's growth.  Those growth ring areas should be mostly solid wood and not have much if any real sap flow for the present year.  I could be wrong, because we have different species where I am that behave differently, I'm not familiar with a lot of other species, and it may well be that you have sap flowing through past few years of growth with the type of trees that you have.  I can't be sure.  But I'd guess that just getting through the bark and inner bark would be sufficient.  The best way to know is to try, assuming that you think that it is worth doing, permaculturally, for your purposes.