Birch Bark

[Josey Wales]

When collecting Bark from a birch tre, does it have to be dead? - with the intention of making a container e.t.c.


Cheers,

 

[Abbe Osram]

No, you take it from a fresh tree. But you have to watch that you dont take it from around the tree. Like cutting a ring aroud the entire tree and stripping him, the tree will most likely die. I find quite many dead trees in the wild where people took some bark to start a fire. The where cutting "around" a full circle around the tree and stripped him. But I find a lot of living trees where someone has taking Bark to start a fire and only to a piece from one side not around and the tree is still living and healing up fine. So, cut from a living tree but make sure it is from your own land and then take it from one side only and not around the entire tree.

hope that helps
cheers
Abbe

 

[Ranger Bob]

The tree doesn't have to be dead. In fact, during summer the bark will peel away very easily from a living tree. If you do this be sure to only remove the outer bark of the tree, or esle it could die. However, if you have an abundance of dead birch in your area, I would encourage you to use the bark from these, if only to preserve the living trees. The bark from dead tree is quite serviceable for containers, and is often easy to remove as the bark will remain intact long after the wood has decayed.(due to the tars and resins in the bark). Certainly, the bark from living trees will be of better quality, and if you have many Birch and can remove enough bark for your needs without creating to much damage then do so. But, please try bark from dead trees first.
Hope this helps, I'm happy to answer any more questions about birch bark.

 

[Roving Rich]

Errr there is an abundance of dead birch trees in the local woods, so i have always used these for my tinder requirements.
As for birch bark containers - according to the guy teaching the class at the moot, use fresh green bark, and inorder to get alarge sheet you would have to cut right around the tree (Ring barking it !) which would certainly kill it.
I intend to try using the dead stuff, but boiling it up for a while to help soften it. Otherwise it splits to easily and is very difficult to work.

Rich

 

[Ranger Bob]

according to the guy teaching the class at the moot
Rich

That was me!

As long as the inner corky bark remains intact, removing the outer papery bark entirely (ring barking) will disfigure but not kill it

 

[Fallow Way]

Ready science fans?

If you remove only the bark (outer bark) from the tree and leave the phloem (inner bark) intact, the tree can still cycle what it needs through that layer. If you carry on through to waht can only described as "wood" you`ve gone way to far

The very very best way to collect it (from a conservation point of view) is on a newly dead tree or one you will fell and use the wood from for something else. Even the most careful removal of the bark will leave it a disfiguring scar and open to attack.

 

[Fire Starter]

Does stripping any bark off any tree not leave it open to many parasitic fungi that will eventually cause the tree to die due to your need for bark from a living tree?

 

[Fallow Way]

Bark is the outer proective layer so removing it from any tree and leaving the under layers exposed does make it easier for a whole host of things to take advantage.



If you are taking off the birch bark that is curling up (the smallish bits you collect for fire lighting) then no, bark patterns are a result of how old bark is dicarded. With Birch, when the new bark underneath is ready, the bark ontop of this will start to peel away. You`ll notice fresh new bark under where you remove it.

If anyone is doing the former, as I say, the best way is to make use of the tree itself in otherways. In sweden when they fell the trees (as i understand it from Juha) they remove the bark which is then used for the craft before they fell the tree, meaning there is no tree left open to attack afterwards

 

[Biddlesby]

RangerBob; the bark you had at the moot; inner or outer?

 

[Ranger Bob]

RangerBob; the bark you had at the moot; inner or outer?

Outer bark, Harry.

 

[Biddlesby]

So is the stuff you peel off for tinder outer outer bark or is it not bark at all?

 

[Ranger Bob]

So is the stuff you peel off for tinder outer outer bark or is it not bark at all?

The stuff you take for tinder is indeed, as you put it, outer outer bark. Its just an upper layer of bark that is naturally sheding.

 

[~Dan~]

so if its only the old outer bark thats sheding that we are taking for tinder nothing bad will happen to the tree? but whats the best was to strip the outer bark with out cutting too deep and damageing the phleom??? sorry to ask but i am quite new to this

~Dan~

 

[Ranger Bob]

so if its only the old outer bark thats sheding that we are taking for tinder nothing bad will happen to the tree? but whats the best was to strip the outer bark with out cutting too deep and damageing the phleom??? sorry to ask but i am quite new to this

~Dan~

Taking the naturally shedding bark for tinder will not damage the tree.
Now, the second part of your question. Its not really possible to cut into outer bark without damaging the inner bark. But as has been discussed before, there's enough dead birch trees around to supply enough bark for our needs, so removing bark from living trees is not necessary, therefore you should not need to concern yourself with damaging the phleom.

Hope this answers your question.

 

[~Dan~]

thank you for pointing that out