Birch bark question

[paulnb57]

I'd like to make a birch bark container, school me on harvesting said bark, some say you can harvest from a living tree and it will recover, anyone care to verify and is there a technique to remove the bark?

Thanks

Paul

 

[Mesquite]

Have a look at this thread as to what happens when you take bark from a living tree...

 

[Toddy]

No, you can't. Not bark thick enough to make anything from.

You can peel off thin, thin layers that flake on the surface of some varieties, but most of the birch trees in the UK grow thin barks. That's the bark that carries the water up the tree, that protects it from fungal attack, etc.,

Dead birches rot from the inside out, they leave the tube of bark behind. Try to find that instead if you want to use native bark.
Failing that buy Continental or N.American birch bark. It's much thicker, more flexible, less likely to split, it grows well in their cold climates.

Bambodoggy summed it up, "Trees don't heal, they seal"…unless you ring bark them or fungus get into them.

M

 

[Baelfore]

I recently ordered a few sheets of birch bark when it was on sale with Brisaknives for the very reson that finding some thick enough in our climate is a challenge, and the only trees in my locale with suitable bark are still-living trees in neighbours gardens.

atb
Ste

 

[Fraxinus]

I had a bimble in the woods yesterday and found quite a lot of cut down birch. Harvesting from that type of source would not do any more damage than already done. Take a walk, enjoy the woods and see what is there.

Rob.

 

[paulnb57]

Interesting replies, thanks, didn't for example onow that our Birch grows thinner bark due to climate over here, I'll keep an eye out for dead trees.....

 

[Toddy]

Rob's advice is sound. Birch is a pioneer species, and where it grows under power lines, on wetland sites and the like, it's routinely felled…..and that bark is fresh and not dead and you'll not be damaging a growing tree

atb,
M