excellant! - you guessed it - it is indeed an old clothes line.

okay, thanks for the advice Mike and Phisherman.

the wire is near the base (1.5m) - i'll attempt to cut it out as
suggested and hope for the best ...especially good to hear that the
tree can recover the damage to some degree - well hopefully

thanks again,



Phisherman wrote in message . ..
On 13 Apr 2004 03:39:24 -0700, (lb) wrote:

Hi,

I wonder if anyone can advise me on wether or not a tree that has had
a piece of wire wrapped around its base for some years will continue
to grow properly - or not. Currently the tree has a - commonly found
- while plastic covered loop of wire wrapped around it near the base.
This wire has obviously been there for some years since the tree has
'overflowed' the loop ie. the width of the tree is now greater than
that of the loop - but it is obvious where the loop of wire is
situated as the bark bends in at that point.

I believe the tree is a birch.

My concern is that the loop is restricting the flow of water from the
roots upwards - and although at this time there is no obvious problem
- can/will any symptoms show in the future?

thanks

The tree have been weakened by the wire. If there is concern of the
tree falling and causing damage, cut it down. Otherwise, wait and
see. This reminds me about how some folks use trees to install
clothes lines.