Tension wood: A 'muscle' that can both bend and straighten plants

6 days ago (phys.org)

Trees "calculate" which branches to drop based on data they gather as they grow. A competent and experienced arborist knows how to read the tree and simply safely cut off the branches that the tree was already intending to drop so that it doesn't fall on your house or whatever. Inexperienced arborists often ignore this key dendrology fact and may totally butcher your tree. In the process they can create an even larger risk of a tree falling over onto your house during a storm

It's called cladoptosis (basically self-pruning) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cladoptosis

EDIT: since I'm on the topic of bad tree trimming, NEVER TOP YOUR TREES https://www.arborday.org/tree-resources/dont-top-trees

  • >NEVER TOP YOUR TREES

    Kind of annoying when all the fruit is several meters out of reach

  • Fascinating! Where is this data stored? I love the idea of a Tree DB queried via TreeSQL.

  • >NEVER TOP YOUR TREES

    they do it where I live because the branches bang against apartments' windows when it's windy. I don't think there's another low-maintenance solution.

    • Coppicing or pollarding are both well-historied techniques that can be used to keep trees growing short. They differ significantly from topping and require a lot of expertise. They also have to be started when the tree is young

  • I'd like to grow bonzai. I have zero prior knowledge. I suppose what you mention applies. Would you happen to have any good resource that applies to bonzai science please?

Imo the title here buries the lede: we've known that trees form tension wood in response to external stress. This study claims to find that trees will form it in response only to their own curvature, independent of external factors even including gravity. They compare it to proprioception. That's neat!

Let me take this opportunity to remind HN readers - Posture & Hydration Check!