Hi DD Mike, as soon as you put the phone down I went out and sorted your item.
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Lords Wood August 26~28 Work Party Meet
- Thread starter woodspirits
- Start date
There are cattle in the top meadow, please make sure you close the top gate after you.
As usual another storming meet. Congratulations to Mike being elected as Lordswood Prime Minister!
Thanks fella’s for turning out for this one, due to the very dry conditions clearance and brash burning will be postponed until further notice. However it did give up the opportunity to tidy the communal area and add wind blown oak logs to the wood pile.
The mystery of the falling tree was resolved, I went for a scout around after you had all gone and eventually found a freshly downed very large Oak branch in the suspected area. For those interested here’s what caused it, from a Gov website, Long winded but relevant to us.
1. Occasionally, apparently healthy and stable trees shed large limbs during the summer for no obvious reason. This phenomenon, known as ‘Summer branch drop’, appears to be associated with certain weather patterns but the inter-relationship of factors is not fully understood.
2. ‘Summer branch drop’ has been reported occurring on oak (Quercus spp), Sweet chestnut (Castanea sativa), beech (Fagus sylvatica), ash (Fraxinus excelsior), poplar (Populus spp), willow (Salix spp) and Horse chestnut (Aesculus hippocastanum). Until recently ‘Summer branch drop’ was frequently reported on English elm (Ulmus procera), reflecting a locally large elm population relative to other common hardwoods. Records for this phenomenon in other trees are extremely rare. Young and vigorous maturing trees of susceptible species appear less prone to ‘Summer branch drop’ while over-mature and senescent specimens may shed branches repeatedly.
3. Branches that drop are frequently long and drawn out, at least 10 cm (4") in diameter, and they usually extend to or beyond the edge of the crown of the tree. Frequently, but not invariably, the break occurs some distance from a fork. The wood at the point of fracture may appear sound but for part of the branch diameter the break is often short, that is at right angles to the axis of the branch cutting across the wood fibres. A short fracture is often associated with decay but where the wood appears sound an internal defect or earlier weakening, not visible on the exterior of the tree, may exist.
4. Many explanations for ‘Summer branch drop’ have been formulated but conclusive evidence is lacking. Furthermore, as reports are often based on casual observations their subjectivity must be borne in mind.
5. ‘Summer branch drop’ may be the result of an internal weakening of the branch and stress factor triggering the break. The initial weakening may result from winter storm damage or snow accumulation producing internal cracks and stresses.
6. As ‘Summer branch drop’ is believed to be associated with calm weather conditions following a heavy rain shower which terminates a period of increasing soil dryness, the trigger may be water stress; this is known to cause cracks in conifer stems and may be responsible for producing an analogous condition in broadleaved trees. During the early Summer the weight of fresh foliage and new shoots, combined with the weight of developing fruits, may be increased so much by surface water following a rain shower that a turning moment develops resulting in branch fracture. Alternatively, incipient decay may also reduce the strength of the wood and could account for the short fracture sometimes recorded.
The mystery of the falling tree was resolved, I went for a scout around after you had all gone and eventually found a freshly downed very large Oak branch in the suspected area. For those interested here’s what caused it, from a Gov website, Long winded but relevant to us.
1. Occasionally, apparently healthy and stable trees shed large limbs during the summer for no obvious reason. This phenomenon, known as ‘Summer branch drop’, appears to be associated with certain weather patterns but the inter-relationship of factors is not fully understood.
2. ‘Summer branch drop’ has been reported occurring on oak (Quercus spp), Sweet chestnut (Castanea sativa), beech (Fagus sylvatica), ash (Fraxinus excelsior), poplar (Populus spp), willow (Salix spp) and Horse chestnut (Aesculus hippocastanum). Until recently ‘Summer branch drop’ was frequently reported on English elm (Ulmus procera), reflecting a locally large elm population relative to other common hardwoods. Records for this phenomenon in other trees are extremely rare. Young and vigorous maturing trees of susceptible species appear less prone to ‘Summer branch drop’ while over-mature and senescent specimens may shed branches repeatedly.
3. Branches that drop are frequently long and drawn out, at least 10 cm (4") in diameter, and they usually extend to or beyond the edge of the crown of the tree. Frequently, but not invariably, the break occurs some distance from a fork. The wood at the point of fracture may appear sound but for part of the branch diameter the break is often short, that is at right angles to the axis of the branch cutting across the wood fibres. A short fracture is often associated with decay but where the wood appears sound an internal defect or earlier weakening, not visible on the exterior of the tree, may exist.
4. Many explanations for ‘Summer branch drop’ have been formulated but conclusive evidence is lacking. Furthermore, as reports are often based on casual observations their subjectivity must be borne in mind.
5. ‘Summer branch drop’ may be the result of an internal weakening of the branch and stress factor triggering the break. The initial weakening may result from winter storm damage or snow accumulation producing internal cracks and stresses.
6. As ‘Summer branch drop’ is believed to be associated with calm weather conditions following a heavy rain shower which terminates a period of increasing soil dryness, the trigger may be water stress; this is known to cause cracks in conifer stems and may be responsible for producing an analogous condition in broadleaved trees. During the early Summer the weight of fresh foliage and new shoots, combined with the weight of developing fruits, may be increased so much by surface water following a rain shower that a turning moment develops resulting in branch fracture. Alternatively, incipient decay may also reduce the strength of the wood and could account for the short fracture sometimes recorded.
That does all sound relevant to this weekend.
I woke up during Sat night - something that sounded huge but was probably just an acorn, bounced off my tarp. For a while lay listening to cracking and falling objects - much smaller than the big branch but quite a few of them.
I do sometimes wonder about the safety of hammocking under big Oak trees.
I woke up during Sat night - something that sounded huge but was probably just an acorn, bounced off my tarp. For a while lay listening to cracking and falling objects - much smaller than the big branch but quite a few of them.
I do sometimes wonder about the safety of hammocking under big Oak trees.
Very interesting, have seen something like that on aspen some years ago but I had no idea that it might be a known phenomenon. @Robson Valley any further comments?
Nope. News to me. We have some expansive stands of big aspen in river bottom flats. The lower branches tend to "self prune" the thought being they are not shade tolerant. I never ever hunt or explore those places on windy days. You can hear the dead branches crashing down.
The rest of our forests are conifers. Lower branches may die for the same reasons but they don't come off. In the wind, each conifer species sings a different wood wind note.
The rest of our forests are conifers. Lower branches may die for the same reasons but they don't come off. In the wind, each conifer species sings a different wood wind note.
I was hoping to pop down over the weekend for a quick visit, but unfortunately my clutch went on down on my car on the Friday, whilst in Coventry when I was getting some paperwork signed. Broke down at 11am finally had a rac guy turn up at 5:30 pm and finally got home at 10:30 pm.
Finally got my car back today and a £1000 lighter.
Finally got my car back today and a £1000 lighter.
Blimey Pete that’s disgraceful service from the RAC, I hope you gave them what for!
