How to Kill a Tree by Girdling 2021

[@dankeener3307]

This video explains why a Norway maple remained green all summer after i girdled it. I like the tools you used as well. I used a small folding saw and cut twice around the trunk 6 inches apart and then used a brick Laying in the woods to chip the bark away. Thx for this video on a wise subject to support our ecosystems.

[@clifftyllick8529]

Jeff, I work with more vigorous invasive trees that need to be taken out when the trunks are smaller. We use a similarly inexpensive toolkit: a carpet knife, a putty scraper, soapy water, rubbing alcohol, and a scrubbing pad or scrub brush. I hope you don't mind if I use your video to complement my own in a workshop I'm giving later this week. You have reached the same conclusion I have: The key step of girdling, which is removing the inner bark, works best with a dull tool, not a sharp one. You want the tissue to lift itself off the sapwood, not get sliced away. I do have a few comments that I hope you'll find helpful. First, I suggest you add a final step of scrubbing the exposed sapwood. A little field study I did (with the guidance and help of an actual scientist) showed that removing residual inner bark tissue-phloem and cambium-from the surface of the sapwood puts an end to reconnection across the girdle. We tested four different ways of removing that tissue: scraping down to hard wood (the mature sapwood); scrubbing with water; scrubbing with soapy water; scrubbing with rubbing alcohol. All worked the same, provided the work was done thoroughly. (In each case, we saw the same number of failures, and each failure was because an unnoticed strip of inner bark, however thin or slim, had been left in place.) But in practice since our study, my volunteers have told me that scraping is hard work and triggers repetitive motion injuries and that scrubbing with water takes longer than scrubbing with either soapy water or rubbing alcohol. I have found that scubbing with soapy water and then rubbing alcohol is easier and gets the volunteer to be more thorough. The soapy water releases the tissue better, so it scrubs away more easily. The alcohol releases tissue in its own way and dries the outermost tissue, increasing the chance that the inner bark tissue dies. Doing two steps rather than one makes me look at the gap carefully twice, so I'm more likely to notice any trace of tissue I was about to leave in place. Second, on the width of the gap, I have found that in my area, invasive trees are remarkably alike in that, regardless of size, new tissue grows into the gap from the top at a rate of about half to three-quarters of an inch a year. Your six-inch gap is great because it's easy to achieve with your tools, but in the final scrub, cleaning a 2- to 3-inch-wide band all the way around the trunk is enough to ensure that the tree dies. Third, on the tree that grew new bark along the edge of a wound, removing the new bark isn't quite enough. As the tree recovers, from the outside we see it cover the wound with a "patch" of new bark. But a better description of what is happening is that the tree is starting to grow a new trunk, parallel to the old one-including new inner bark behind the old live tissue and on top of the same layer as the exposed tissue of the wound. If you cut the healing edges of the wound away, you will find that there is a layer of bark wedged back in there and a layer of green tissue that might extend all the way around the trunk. How far it extends depends on how long that wound had been closing. If at all possible, I avoid girdling at a scar. I'll work above it or below it instead. Fourth, people ask me and you didn't mention it: What's the right height for girdling the tree? As you've shown, it doesn't have to be the bottom. It just has to be below the lowest leaf on its trunk. For safety, it should be at a height where you feel comfortable working. You pretty well demonstrated that. And for ease and success, it should be on a section that is close to being round as a pipe and has no knots or branches. The trees I work on most-Ligustrum lucidum, or glossy privet-have a tendency to form long concave sections along their trunks. Digging the tissue out of that depression can be a pain. If I have no choice, I can make it work, but I try to avoid those indentations. Fifth, if you haven't tried this, you might let the new basal shoots grow on a few trees and see what happens. In my experience, if the girdle is good, those shoots grow long and limber but never harden off. They die before the top does. If they start putting on girth and hardening off, either the girdle has bridged or a trunk or branch was left ungirdled. I can see that difference from ten or twenty yards away. So if I'm walking through a wooded patch after my volunteers have girdled it, I can tell which trees I need to inspect by glancing at those basal sprouts. If they're wimpy, no need to look more closely. If they're putting on bark and girth, I'd better get over there. I fix the problem, strip off the shoots (often I girdle the woody shoots), and go on my way. Finally, when you see a tree budding out weakly at the beginning of the season after it was girdled, chip away or scrape the bark anywhere below the girdle. After doing this for several years, I finally realized that the root system dies before the top does. The tissues in the top will still have stored water in them, will use that stored water to leaf out and even bloom, and will wither as soon as that water is used up. So if you need to cut a tree down as soon as it's dead, you don't have to wait for the top to look completely dead. The bottom will die first. The trees we've girdled include glossy privet (L. lucidum), Chinese privet (L. sinense), quihoui privet (L. quihoui), Chinese tallow (Triadica sebifera), Chinese pistache (Pistacia chinensis), and chinaberry (Melia azederach). Unlike the others, Chinese pistache and chinaberry put out basal sprouts that thrive even when the girdle is fine. I just strip those back to a well-spaced few-maybe one for every 3 to 4 inches of the original trunk's girth-and I let those grow one season and then girdle them. Sometimes I have to do that twice; one tree has made me do it three times. But they die completely eventually. This is far better content than other demonstrations of girdling I have seen online. For larger trunks, I am definitely adding a prybar to my girdling toolkit!

[@BackyardBirdsUS]

Wow you really know your stuff. And I appreciate your comments. I spent a lot of time making this video. And I'm with you there's a lot of videos out there that just don't explain it. So I'm curious where are you that you have all those trees because I've never even heard of them. You must be in a tropical area. I have found that the mulberries seem to be hard to kill because they want to resprout. But I do think must be right that sometimes the response just die on their own. It does seem the bigger the tree the better girdling works. But I did some small trees and they died within a year.

[@BackyardBirdsUS]

By the way I want to apologize that I'm just getting back to you but KZbin did not let me know that you left this comment. I found it using a different method.

[@clifftyllick8529]

@@BackyardBirdsUS No problem about the delay!

[@clifftyllick8529]

@@BackyardBirdsUS I live in Central Texas-not tropical, but it could seem so by comparison with South Dakota-so it isn't surprising that you and I encounter different trees. We do see Ulmus pumila, but it doesn't outcompete the local native trees the way the other trees I mentioned do. Where you're girdling trees here and there to provide habitat for woodpeckers, we're girdling invasive trees everywhere to get them out of the way of the trees that provide the right kind of habitat for all wildlife. Our worst offender is the glossy privet, which would never survive a typical winter in South Dakota. It can shade out everything below about 45 feet, turning a mixed forest into a monoculture. Its branches are mostly vertical, so it doesn't provide decent locations for birds to build nests, it tends to be multitrunked, so it doesn't give woodpeckers and other cavity nesters an isolated pole to help them feel safe from predators, and even when you find a single-trunked one, it generally gets too narrow for a woodpecker's cavity before it gets tall enough to make them feel safe. So it's bad habitat for birds in death as well as life. We have to remove it so trees like native elms, oaks, walnuts, pecans, and even hackberries can grow to create the snags for the woodpeckers to use.

[@BackyardBirdsUS]

I am so glad you are doing this. So do you find girdling is efficient? I think it is.

[@tonysokaleoralvsky2640]

It's good to see you again Jeff

[@BackyardBirdsUS]

Thanks Tony. I have another video on the works.

[@bartk85622]

Super well done Professor Jeff! As a person who also creates content, I know how much work you did to prepare for and create this video and you did a fantastic job! Also, you narration was flawless! I really enjoyed watching this video and learning something new. I give you a 12 on a scale of 1 to 10! Really fantastic Jeff!

[@BackyardBirdsUS]

Bart, you sure know how to make me smile. Thank you times 10. This one took a month to make! And I've been thinking about it for a year or two. As always I sure hope it helps people.

[@greeenjeeens]

Fantastic! Great to see ring barking being used. It's such a shame to see every unwanted tree being felled, logged, and taken somewhere else and completely wasted! About how long do you think is the typical delay between ring barking a tree, and it becoming productive with insects and woodpeckers?

[@sjr7822]

I got my answer to my question "Why not just cut into the bark all the way around, do you have to make a wide ring around the tree?? Ans, because, the bark could grow back. Where I am at, it is recommended girdling the second week in Jan. I'm going to give this a try

[@BackyardBirdsUS]

If you only make a cut the tree will heal its self. You will know of the season is right if the bark slips of easily. What kind of trees?

[@clifftyllick8529]

SJR, you hit a key point in the success of girdling trees: if you don't keep the bark from growing back, the tree will recover. You might set its growth back for a season or two, or you might end up with a lingering but not quite dead central trunk surrounded by a ring of new stems. As I show in my video based on experience in Central Texas, removing about a hand's width of bark creates a gap that is plenty wide, but no matter how wide the gap, to ensure success you need to scrub residual tissue from the surface of the sapwood-tissue that will produce new phloem (which is not really inner bark, but a lot of people call it that). Phloem carries sugar and similar substances throughout the tree. When people tap maples, they're actually tapping the phloem, not the sapwood. The sapwood is like a wick that carries water from whatever structures absorb it (usually the roots) to whatever structures are short of it (usually every other living cell). To kill the tree before it can close the gap, you need to be sure that you create a gap in the phloem that is at least an inch wide all around the trunk. See my KZbin video, Demonstration of Invasive Tree Girdling with Cliff Tyllick, prepared for Austin Water Wildland Conservation, here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/iF6vYoWAo5Vsa9k

[@BackyardBirdsUS]

Definitely a good idea to try it. We all learn by doing.

[@Arjuna1331]

Great video. We have invasive albizia trees on are property. We can use this strategy for killing the trees. Thank you for the video.

[@williamjaeger5940]

I really enjoy these videos! Informative and interesting! Thanks!

[@BackyardBirdsUS]

Thank you. I wanted to do this one for a long time. I've seen lots of videos on the topic and they always miss the point. And they're usually poorly done. I hope I explain everything and people learn.

[@cumastercuonline]

That's so interesting! Too bad we can't use this option in town. I'm excited to see you plant black walnut - not nearly enough of those left standing these days!

[@BackyardBirdsUS]

But the problem with black walnuts are my rabbits and deer eat them and I only have one surviving because they keep eating them off to the ground. I appreciate your comments thanks.

[@Aviationfan2022]

Super video Jeff. Greetings from England. I enjoyed this video. I even liked the video of ring necked ducks. Over in England we receive tufted ducks but are the same colour as the males but don't show a ring

[@BackyardBirdsUS]

Awesome. Thanks for writing. I never tire of ducks.

[@Aviationfan2022]

@@BackyardBirdsUS you're welcome buddy. Search up tufted duck and it will show you similar features to the ring necked duck. There is a bto bird watch video on diving ducks. It shows you tufted duck, pochard and scaup (greater scaup as you call it in America but scaup as it is called in Europe)

[@vampire_rockstar2861]

Well explained sir, long live like a king.

[@BackyardBirdsUS]

Thanks. Made my day

[@vampire_rockstar2861]

My pleasure sir. Keep safe.

[@alicesmith6750]

Good to know, very informative video, thank you. Now, if you can just tell me how to kill Wisteria vine, lol. We are taking our backhoe and digging up a fence and the root ball of the Wisteria, which has ruined the fence btw. Hoping my Wisteria issue will be resolved soon, but a friend of mine has somewhat of a similar problem with the same type of vine in her yard.

[@BackyardBirdsUS]

I've never tried to kill one but i think i would check into a brush killing herbicide. Interesting site of my mulberries died from girdling and others regrew and i had to use brush killer on them.

[@JennyB957]

Thanks best video for what i need to do . Small , maybe even saplings. Plus a spraying happy neighbor . I will try to refrain from further comment about that . Thank you for the detailed instructions. Have a good day.

[@BackyardBirdsUS]

Thank you! I used my mattock so often. I've used it on large honeysuckle too but it's more work.

[@johnw685]

Hey Jeff I have a huge tree very close to my home if I girdle it will it fall or just stop growing..

[@BackyardBirdsUS]

It will die but then may fall on house or worse on someone. Is have a tree service come and remove it. I have the same problem. Too close to a building. Even when they are alive they may lose a limb.

[@jameslomenzo1139]

I've always wondered if insects can do that and then it provides nesting for woodpeckers other cavity birds, just part of the ecology.

[@BackyardBirdsUS]

I find dead trees provide tons of food for birds I'm just amazed at how many woodpeckers I see feeding on these dead trees.

[@L110508]

Dear Jeff, I have 2 questions : - Will it be more difficult to do this when the bark is not really dry (in spring)? - Is Douglas Fir's bark hard to peel with this method? Thank you.

[@BackyardBirdsUS]

You want to do it when the bark slips off. No idea about Douglas fir. Best thing is to just try it.

[@rogerconrad8571]

Good to know.

[@BackyardBirdsUS]

It really is useful and i think it's not common knowledge.

[@rogerconrad8571]

@@BackyardBirdsUS I just bought 11 acres and was interested in a good way of killing the big unwanted trees.

[@BackyardBirdsUS]

Excellent news that you are going to try this. It really is useful.

[@trendmediaofficial8312]

How many day it takes killing thos tree??

[@BackyardBirdsUS]

Not days. Usually a year. Takes that long you starve the tree

[@capnbly]

If you want the tree dead, why is it important not to go past the inner bark so the leaves can still grow?

[@BackyardBirdsUS]

Very good question. If you damage the wood it can't transport water to the leaves and will resprout from the base. You want the tree to transport water and nutrients to the leaves until it exhausted it's roots. I'm amazed at how well this works and how well my beneficial trees are growing since i killed the invasive trees.

[@FalconfromRF]

Why not just cut down it, generally they are removed for public safety?

[@BackyardBirdsUS]

Because that is a lot of work and where I'm doing it they're not issue with the public. Plus I'm creating habitat for birds. If you cut them down you've removed all habitat.

[@kristinamullen4066]

I feel bad for the trees that will be murdered!!.If the trees are dead, how do they still stand?They will eventually fall, won't they?

[@ThereIsNoLord]

These are non-native invasives he's getting rid, AND as a side benefit, providing habitat for cavity nesters. And replacing them with beneficial native trees that contribute to the ecosystem. This is a very thoughtless comment.

[@BackyardBirdsUS]

Do you feel good for all of the birds that will use them and flourish. And for all the trees that will grow in their place? It's a win win.

[@BackyardBirdsUS]

Thank you. You said it so clearly. Much appreciated.

[@BackyardBirdsUS]

Yes the trees will eventually fall. Then they can be removed for firewood or left for wildlife.

[@theeamericanempire2279]

Killing any tree or plant besides weeds is pure evil! I hate it when people kill the very plants and trees that produce oxygen for everyone. I don’t understand y u can’t just sell the tree or move it to somewhere else out of the way

[@BackyardBirdsUS]

These are weeds. Invasive trees. They are being replaced. Did you even watch the video. It's all explained.

[@theeamericanempire2279]

@@BackyardBirdsUS those are still trees are they not? Do they not produce oxygen? Do they not look happy?

[@BackyardBirdsUS]

What makes you think invasive trees that kill native trees and plants are a good thing? Don't you think the native trees and plants will produce oxygen. Further more the native trees provide sustenance for wildlife. I only see good from killing invasive trees. Check out "bringing nature home" by Doug Talamy.

[@BackyardBirdsUS]

Please tell me how to move a tree that is over a foot in diameter?

[@dankeener3307]

The trees being girdled are weeds, using your words, and are being replaced with a more desirable species native to the area. I/we love trees too; the ecosystem benefits from great management.