How NOT to Harvest Birch Bark

[Mesquite]

There's been a few posts in the past where people have said it's OK to take birch bark from a living tree as it does no harm.

This may well be true if you're just peeling the small wispy papery bits off that peel naturally.

However, I've always said it's not a good idea to take it from a living tree if you want it for containers etc as it does leave hideous scars as the attached pictures clearly demonstrate. All the trees were in the same wood, a scout site where the various users had been told over time that birch bark is great for fire lighting so they stripped it from living trees

As you can see this tree has had some bark peeled but what's worrying is that the inner bark dries out it starts to crack up.


Here's more examples of that. You can see in the bottom left of the tree the inner bark has dried out so much it's actually peeling off.





These scars stay with the tree for the rest of their life but the tree does heals itself if somewhat incompletely.

You can see that in this picture where the tree has had bark removed and healed but it's still possible to make the scar out very easily


So quite simply don't take bark from a living tree, take it from a dead one .

 

[Chiseller]

Good thread , especially as we have more New members and lurkers that may not be wise to the ' do nots'
Perhaps we should have a sticky thread pointing out wrongs and dangers ?

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[Macaroon]

It drives me spare when I see this kind of thing - at a Scout Campground??? - it's not like there's a lot of work involved in doing it properly.

There's no earthly reason to disfigure anything out there, there are enough factors damaging the trees et al without us, of all people, doing it!

Very Good Post!!!

 

[Hedgecrafter]

I'll have to put my hands up and say I am guilty of this.

About 4 years ago I took a foot wide strip of bark from a birch near where I walk the dogs. I used it to make a tinder box but it was so untidy that I binned it. I took both the outer layer and the inner layer of bark (which is why the tinder box failed). I see the scar on the tree and feel guilty about it every day.

Just don't do it guys. Take what you need, not what you want.

 

[sandbender]

mmmm, poor tree, a useful thread.

 

[British Red]

Good thread.

Its very very easy to "ring bark" a tree - and ring barking kills trees. Short answer is if you don't know what you are doing, don't gather bark from a living tree - unless you own it and are prepared to kill it. If you do know what you are doing, you will know its a criminal offence to damage trees and you won't do it anyway.

 

[decorum]

Good thread

a scout site where the scouts had been told over time that birch bark is great for fire lighting so they stripped it from living trees

It's worth noting that although it's a scout site it's not just members of the Scout Association who use the site* and it might not be a young 'un who's caused any / all of the damage .


* And, over the years, also (and forgive any inaccuracies in organisation titles ) The Guides Association, various cadet forces, The Boys Brigade, Young FireFighters, Lots and lots of schools, lots of colleges, the Police Force, SAGO, Gateway, trespassers, various LARP groups, and quite a few whose names currently escape me ...

 

[Mesquite]

It's worth noting that although it's a scout site it's not just members of the Scout Association who use the site* and it might not be a young 'un who's caused any / all of the damage .

Fair comment, and I've amended my original comments

 

[decorum]

Cheers Steve .

And the damage is made even more annoying by the sheer volume of honeysuckle on site ~ it's far easier to harvest for tinder, quicker to grow and a damned pest ...

 

[Macaroon]

I don't suppose it makes much difference to the tree who does it, eh?

 

[Chilliphil]

A good thread, I always tell my Scouts not to collect birch bark and if they want some supply it from my stock that has been taken from dead trees. There are so many fallen ones round here it's easy to find at the moment.

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[dwardo]

It is much easier to harvest birch bark from dead rather than living tree and just as good if not better for fire-lighting.
Some of the imported paper birch will shed bark easier than our native ones but you will rarely find them out in the wild.
Birch tend to have a short life so there are always dead or dying ones around.

 

[petrochemicals]

mmm, the tree that you can take the living bark from is the paper one. It also has a long smooth faultless trumk, and is the largest of the birches achieving 100 foot regularly, and sometimes 150 with a thick trunk. The bark is thicker and not harmful to peel it if done correctly. This birck yields pieces of 2 metres by 10 metres all faultless covering. the birches in this country are quite considerably different and all birches are not alike,for example I believe the yellow birches bark doesnt peel.

are you sure its a birch as the bark looks like its running 2 ways, like rowan,a thin outer and a thick vertical crain inner. Rowan is not muck good for initial fire lighting, where as paper birch is super

 

[Mesquite]

are you sure its a birch as the bark looks like its running 2 ways, like rowan,a thin outer and a thick vertical crain inner. Rowan is not muck good for initial fire lighting, where as paper birch is super

All the trees which are pictured in my OP were either Silver or Downy Birch, most definitely not Rowan.

 

[Goatboy]

Good thread, cheers for posting. Must say it's hard to find a happy medium for folk. I agree no ring-barking but a lot of folk are scared to harvest branches, which if done sympathetically does no harm and can indeed be beneficial. (If you have the permission to do so - he added quickly). Most trees I see in folks gardens especially fruit tree could actually do with a prune.

 

[rik_uk3]

Good thread , especially as we have more New members and lurkers that may not be wise to the ' do nots'
Perhaps we should have a sticky thread pointing out wrongs and dangers ?

Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk

Great idea but where do you begin? Well worth looking at though Tony.

 

[ozzy1977]

Done correctly no harm wil come tothe tree, and if the bark is used for a good purpose I cant see an issue.

 

[Mesquite]

Done correctly no harm wil come tothe tree, and if the bark is used for a good purpose I cant see an issue.

So you reckon it's perfectly alright to damage trees like that and leave them hideously scarred in your wake?

 

[rancid badger]

Every piece of Birch bark I use, is harvested from dead trees.

It's stupidly easy to collect and I find it's much better for fire lighting than the stuff that you can peel off live tree's anyway. For making pots, baskets and sheaths its excellent, though I do prefer to collect it from tree's that have only been down a few months when using it for these things.

There is also an almost endless supply available in my locality, as there are literally thousands of birch, with many dozens of them dying and being replaced naturally all the time. Just don't take too much from any one particular dead tree, whether on the floor or still standing and you should have only a small impact on insect/bird life.

Steve

 

[John Fenna]

Fallen Birch twigs - you find masses even at the Scout site in question - offer you loads of bark - just rub the twigs between your hands to powder them down or scrape larger twigs with the back of your knife. this gives you very fine Birch bark dust while the twigs themselves are the best tinder/kindling ever! The rubbed twigs will take from a Ferro rod spark or catch easily from a bow drill or flint and steel ember.
I have used this method with even rain soaked twigs picked off soggy ground and although it took longer to get a flame the twigs caught in a flash! There is never a need to skin out a live tree as illustrated!