On 5 May 2006 08:37:52 -0700, "openspaces" wrote:


As a tree grows, do the braches move up as the trunk grows up from the
soil ??? Or does a tree grow from the top only ?


Thanks for the help, everyone.



The branches will not move upward. They elongate from the tips of
branches and increase diameter over time. The low pruning cuts may
have been absorbed so long ago that they don't show up anymore (though
I suspect a trained eye could spot some). Similarly, if you sticka
hammock hook or a nail in the trunk, it will still be at the same
height in 50 years (if the tree is still there). It may be deep in
the wood and invisible, though. That's one big reason that it's hard
to sell urban logs to sawmills.

Chinese Elm is not a 20-foot tree. You saw a young one. They reach
heights up to 70 feet.
http://www.cnr.vt.edu/dendro/dendrol...heet.cfm?ID=90

But you could have a 70-foot tree with branches starting 6 feet above
grade. It's all in how you prune them.

Keith