Wonky tree

Mr. Vine Eye · August 2021

Saw this when we were visiting somewhere today and thought it was one of the oddest tree structures I've ever seen. I spent a while looking around it, looking for wounds where cuts had been made at some point, trying to working out the story of how it ended up like this!

Emerion · August 2021

My first thought is that it was hedged in the traditional way a very long time ago when it was obviously much smaller. Then it’s been allowed to grow up when the hedge was no longer required. We’ve got a couple of small trees a bit like that where an old hedge was allowed to grow out, but ours are much earlier in the growing out process. Could that walkway have been a road or trackway, bordered with a hedge originally?

Posy · August 2021

We have a patch of ancient woodland near us and there are trees like that. I believe the young tree has been damaged at some point, perhaps wind, livestock, other trees falling against it, but has survived and grown on with the elbow joint. Fascinating.

Fairygirl · August 2021

They often start like this

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/6030279/uploads/editor/zu/ge4xtc0u9vl3.jpg

Mr. Vine Eye · August 2021

Posy said:

We have a patch of ancient woodland near us and there are trees like that. I believe the young tree has been damaged at some point, perhaps wind, livestock, other trees falling against it, but has survived and grown on with the elbow joint. Fascinating.

That was my thinking. That it had bent over at some point. The original trunk had to be cut off and that elbow formed with a new shoot that became the new leader. Then it’s got those two newer verticals as well. Funny looking thing!