Removing birch bark

[Adi007]

Does removing birch bark harm the tree? How much can you remove safely and how often? I'm not talking about the thin papery stuff for tinder but for making bark items.

Thanks!

 

[sargey]

in a word, yes.

in theory you could remove a piece of bark without it going all the way round the tree, and the tree would survive. if you cut a complete band all the way round the tree, it would die.

i have wondered in the past if you could put a plastic or clingfilm dressing on the tree to help prevent infection and promote regrowth. sounds daft but it's a technique used by bonsai growers when gafting a new branch onto alternative rootstock.

cheers, and.

 

[Adi007]

That's what I thought - cutting a band would be a bad idea.

Sure Jack will have a lot to say!

 

[Roving Rich]

From living birch trees, i just collect the flaking papery bits that just peel off easily.
Most of my bark i collect from dead, fallen trees and limbs off the woodland floor. The wood rots out of it very quickly leaving just the bark.
Loads of it around my way.
Cheers
Rich

 

[Adi007]

Probably find a lot of cramp balls/King Alfred's cakes there too then! :-D

 

[Roving Rich]

Nope theym on the Ash trees only. Birch brackets on the other hand...
Rich

 

[Adi007]

They are usually found on ash and beech but I also found loads on birch is a mixed wood nearby ... I'll see if i can find the pictures I have of them later.

Or is there a species that looks the same that grows on birch too ... if this wasn't daldinia concentrica, it sure looked like it!