what causes trees to split? Do they just decide at 5 feet to say fuck it Imma head out?
In: Biology
The most common cause of trees splitting is a defect inherent in a lot of tree species known as included bark.
Basically, in a healthy branch union, the bark from one branch meets the bark from another branch and grows outward, forming the branch bark ridge. This normally happens in wide or U-shaped unions.
When the union is too tight, or V-shaped, the bark from both branches meet and grows inward. Eventually, this will cause weakness or a split in the timber below.
You can mitigate this by bracing, but it’s rarely successful. The maintenance of bracing (as with most long-term plans for managing trees) needs to be multi-generational for the owners. More often than not, the brace is installed then forgotten about.
Decay fungi can also cause failure, but this is more snapping than splitting.
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