I was pruning trees in the yard and realized that earlier, lower cut branch’s are relatively in the same spot.
My expectation was that trees grew upward from the ground but then I noticed they grow from the top or ends, outward or towards sunlight.
Which lead me to wonder, how do trees actually get wider at the base without growing upward?
In: 3
“Specialized cells in the ends of each tree shoot (including the primary leader) form areas called meristems. These meristems are the locations from which a tree grows taller and limbs grow longer. If you were to cut a tree like you cut grass, the meristems would be removed and the tree could no longer grow taller/longer.
But because trees grow from their most distal ends, it means that the branches arising from the trunk will never climb higher. If a branch sprouts 3 meters from the ground, it will still be 3 meters from the ground next year.
Note that trees also have another type of meristem, that encircles the trunk and branches and resides beneath the bark. These meristems are responsible for lateral growth (they allow the trunk and branches to increase in diameter).”
More here: https://www.travstrees.com.au/information-centre/will-a-trees-branches-rise-as-it-grows#:~:text=Trees%20grow%20in%20the%20opposite,taller%20and%20limbs%20grow%20longer.
There’s a layer of cells under the bark that grows both outwards to make more bark, and inwards to increase the diameter of the tree, the growth rings of a tree are laid down year after year in layers, building up the thickness.
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