Girdled Tree

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Here is the Girdled Tree I teased you about. What? You were expecting more arboreal underwear? This is Pure Florida, not Victreeias Secrets.

Okay, I'll stop. This is a laurel oak that has a really poorly formed top with weak limb joints and no central leader. Plus, it is really shading my backyard pistol range. (Wouldn't you hate to be my neighbor?)

I chose to girdle this tree rather than cut it down. The purpose of girdling is to sever the phloem tubes that carry glucose from the leaves where it has been produced. If I have cut deep enough, the roots of this oak will starve to death. The leaves will drop, branches will weaken and begin to fall and the pileateds will thank me for giving them one more standing snag to hunt bugs on. Sometime this summer, during a tropical storm, the dead trunk will fall to nourish the forest soil. My shooting range will be sunny again.

I'm in no hurry.