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Broken limb on silver birch
NormandyLiz
Posts: 788
We had a corker of a storm this morning and it's ripped a limb off one of our silver birches. The branch that has come off is only about 2.5m up, so removing the trunk above that, effectively topping it, would not work as it would end up just being a tall stump.
Do you think the extent of the damage is such that the tree would cope or is it just going to leave it open to fungal infections, etc? The split carries on down to just above the edge of the photo.
Then plan is to call a tree surgeon - we have someone we've used before - but just getting an idea what our options might be already.
Do you think the extent of the damage is such that the tree would cope or is it just going to leave it open to fungal infections, etc? The split carries on down to just above the edge of the photo.
Then plan is to call a tree surgeon - we have someone we've used before - but just getting an idea what our options might be already.
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The remaining bark should be sufficient to keep the tree going.
Billericay - Essex
Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit.
Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.
The damaged tree is the one on the left. and the broken branch is on the left of that. I personally think it would look very strange to have a 2.5m trunk with 2 existing branches, then whatever grows thereafter. My feeling is cut it down completely, my husband wants to keep it. I guess we'll see what the tree surgeon says.
And this is what did the damage
Sadly I didn't manage to capture the lightening.
We see so many trees with lightning damage, and they recover. Certainly see what the tree surgeon says. He will be able to see how much damage has actually occurred.
I'd be inclined to try and save it, even if it looks lopsided.
What has happened is that both of the birches were topped about 5 years ago. We had asked another tree surgeon, not this one, to take down a huge poplar that was between them, where the stump that was turned into a seat is in the photo above, and he took it upon himself to top the birches. We spat tacks but of course once a tree is topped you can't do anything about it.
As a result, both trees are now rotting from the top down. The one on the left, where the branch came off, is worse and he can't save it. The bigger branches on the right hand one will also at some point come off in a wind so he's going to remove them once the leaves have fallen, together with a section of the top that is infected, and we can then see what it looks like. To be honest, topped silver birches aren't very pretty in the winter but we'd like to save that one if we can.
And years later we're again cross with the chap who topped them as they would have been lovely trees if left alone. Grrr...
What a shame. From a distance, they look lovely trees. How looks can be deceptive.