One homeowner in Eugene taught me how to read a tree's history in its bark

I was doing a routine prune on an old oak and this retired logger came out and pointed at a scar I'd have ignored. He said, 'that's from a cable line strike about 40 years back, you can see the callus roll.' He showed me how the bark pattern tells you if a branch is dying from the inside out, not just looking dry. Ever since, I check the trunk flare and those old wound lines before I even get the saw out. Anyone else pick up a trick from a random property owner that stuck with you?

2 comments

2 Comments

angela7285d ago

Ha! I'll take the loud crack over a tap test any day. Every tree's got its own thump.

henryr455d agoMost Upvoted

Yeah that bark reading thing hits home. I had an old plum tree in the backyard that looked fine on the outside but one side had this weird flat patch of bark. Neighbor lady who grew up on a farm saw me staring at it and said to tap the trunk with a wrench, listen for the dull thud. Sounded hollow on that side. Sure enough, half the roots were rotten under the soil. She told me to check for carpenter ants too, they always find the wet wood first. I still do that tap test on every tree I work on now. Saved me from a couple of big limbs falling on my shed.