tree trunk regrowth?

[Lou]

We salvaged a mature silver birch trunk from a garden last year when it was chopped down. It is in two pieces, both of them are about 5 foot high and about 2 handspans in circumference with clean cuts at both ends. I leant both of them up against the house, sheltered from the rain and they have been there for about 6 months now. Anyway, the other day I saw that one of them had started sprouting leaves out of the nodules that were trimmed off along the length of the trunk. I searched everywhere to find out if I stuck the trunk back in the ground would it start to grow again but all I can find is info on tree STUMPS regrowing. This is the opposite, it's not got any roots.

Okay, so I know this is really a ridiculous question and you are all laughing heartily at it because OF COURSE a tree trunk is not going to sprout roots and grow again if it is just stuck in the ground but stranger things have happened. I know many of you out there are forestry experts, so what do you think ?

 

[Nice65]

Perfectly possible with some trees, Willow and Poplar for instance. Not Birch. Birch doesn’t root readily at all.

Your log is sprouting from the available energy supplies left in the stem

 

[Broch]

On the contrary, I know willow will do it but I don't know about birch. Stick it in the ground and come back and tell us

Ah, there you go then, Nice65 knows

 

[Alan De Enfield]

It was always said that the Amazon basin was so fertile that the wooden telegraph poles would root and grow.

 

[Toddy]

Alder sprouts like that so long as it has sufficient water. It doesn't seem to grow new roots though.
The posts for the walkway at the Crannog centre grow tufts of greenery; they're embedded end on into the loch bed. They don't grow back into trees.
I don't know about Birch though, but I do know that if it's sitting sodden wet, then it'll sprout for a bit like Alder does.

M

 

[Janne]

Birch twigs are difficult to root, to increase the chance you need to dip them in growth hormone.

Would be cool if you bury the log and see what happens!

 

[Robson Valley]

Nice65 P.ost #2 sums it up.
Birch was on my propagation list when I researched such things.
The very freshest new twig growth of the current year, possibly 0.4% rooting hormone (IBA = indole butyric acid)
might give you 5% success. Start birch from seed.

Easily rooted cuttings is actually rather uncommon.
It's so quick to point out the examples which do work well.
Grape vines root like there's no tomorrow.

 

[slowworm]

As said, alder roots well. I once used an alder trunk as a temporary fence post and was please to notice it growing well after a few months.

On the other hand I've had logs such as oak produce leafy sprouts, but no roots, for a year after being felled. As said, just using the stored energy and moisture in the log.

 

[Lou]

Thanks for all your replies, so it seems that my trunks are giving out one last effort to come into leaf using the stored energy inside them. I've propped it up against my wire fence in the garden and it looks very nice. Plan to turn it into some kind of bird station eventually maybe even try to get some pine martens to visit. Thanks.

 

[Keith_Beef]

Apparently, silver birch can be propagated from a stem or leaf cutting, but as Robson Valley pointed out, chances of success are low. But it costs next to nothing to try.

A quick google search turned up plenty of results, from sticking the stem in a potato to more "scientific-looking" techniques.

 

[Toddy]

As said, alder roots well. I once used an alder trunk as a temporary fence post and was please to notice it growing well after a few months.

On the other hand I've had logs such as oak produce leafy sprouts, but no roots, for a year after being felled. As said, just using the stored energy and moisture in the log.

Did it actually re-grow ? I know the ones that we used didn't, they just produced a crop of greenery at any budding point, but no roots, then just dies back after a bit.

 

[Toddy]

Apparently, silver birch can be propagated from a stem or leaf cutting, but as Robson Valley pointed out, chances of success are low. But it costs next to nothing to try.

A quick google search turned up plenty of results, from sticking the stem in a potato to more "scientific-looking" techniques.

SIlver birch grows like grass. It's so easy if you're down wind of any silver birch tree. I weed out thousand of seedlings every year. The seeds drift like sand and build up against walls and path edges. They get everywhere. It's like a blizzard out there some days when they're ripe and seeding.

Happy to sweep up some later in the year if anyone's in need.

 

[Lou]

I would like a couple of silver birches for my garden eventually. I need them to be part of a screen (with hedging underneath) so I will prob buy some larger trees from a nursery and cheat to get instant height.

 

[Toddy]

It'd surprise you just how quickly they'll grow. They are the original pioneer species and they literally grow like weeds. They will even root in the floating mass on bogs. I have spent days pulling them out (they are part of the succession that dries up sodden land, and the bogs and their flora, fauna, insect and amphibian life are under threat), you end up looking like a haystack ploutering along with an enormous pile of them.
Lovely woodland they make though, ours are full of bluebells, ransoms and lesser celandines just now

M

 

[Nice65]

I would like a couple of silver birches for my garden eventually. I need them to be part of a screen (with hedging underneath) so I will prob buy some larger trees from a nursery and cheat to get instant height.

If you can get some with several stems, and plant Photinia “Red Robin” behind. Some landscapers I know just finished a seating area at a local pub by doing this and it looks fantastic. I’d get pics, but alas, I’m off my feet for a bit after a hip op.

 

[Lou]

If you can get some with several stems, and plant Photinia “Red Robin” behind. Some landscapers I know just finished a seating area at a local pub by doing this and it looks fantastic. I’d get pics, but alas, I’m off my feet for a bit after a hip op.

That sounds nice. I'm planting everything for benefit of wildlife, so I am sure I can find an alternative, as I don't think Photinia has berries on it in the winter for birds ?

 

[Nice65]

That sounds nice. I'm planting everything for benefit of wildlife, so I am sure I can find an alternative, as I don't think Photinia has berries on it in the winter for birds ?

No, it’s a landscapers friend, but not a natural here and apart from nest shelter, doesn’t offer much. Privet stays nice and tight, is very vigorous and insects love it.

 

[Robson Valley]

Berries for birds in public settings? Don't.
What goes in one end of a bird comes out the other end, just as quickly.

I have 3 spruce conifers in my front yard, now quite big.
Lots of welcome shade and shelter. Lots of nesting and roosting opportunities.

 

[Zingmo]

My grandad had an apple tree in the middle of his lawn that grew from a prop he made for the clothes line. Fantastic apples too!

Z

 

[Dave Budd]

I've heard this growth called 'water shoots' or 'reaction growth', but don't know what the correct term is. I see it quite a lot around my woods and workshop where i've cut wood for various projects. Pretty much as described; a pole of a goodly diameter is cut and used for something (such as a leg for a work bench or post for log store) and the following spring a few twigs and leaves sprout from nodes but die off within a few months. I've seen it with all sorts of species including birch, willow, oak and even hawthorn. In my case these logs are normally buried in the ground, but it's just pure clay, so not exactly prime growing conditions only water. Apart from when i've used willow as a temporary landing stage in a river, i've never known one to take root or flourish though.