Several years ago, I and some competent—albeit beer-drinking—friends felled a tall fir tree that was dying and potentially a threat to my cabin. Now, another tree is in the process of punching out. This one, having been attacked by spruce budworms several years ago, is dying from the top down. The top perished some time ago.
When the top of a spruce or fir dies
back after a spruce budworm attack, it most certainly marks the beginning of
the end. The larvae feed heavily on the new growth in the upper crown,
stripping needles and killing the tender shoots where a tree muscles skyward.
With the crown gone, the tree loses its primary photosynthetic engine and its
hormonal compass, throwing off the balance guiding healthy growth. Over the
next seasons, weakened and depleted, the tree struggles. It may attempt a few
desperate measures—sprouting shoots from lower branches or along its trunk—but
the damage is often too deep. Roots begin to die from lack of energy, and the
entire system slowly shuts down. This slow collapse sees bark sloughing away,
limbs breaking, and finally, an unchecked fall.
A logger recently told me some trees
with dead tops may fight on for some fifteen years, but the end is stalking
them. Unfortunately, this particular tree is likely to topple in the direction
of my cabin following its demise. And the cabin is within reach.
It’s time for me to beer up and call
in my qualified felling workforce.
—Mitchell Hegman
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