age of oaks

[kinghodges]

Dear Tree People,

Recently we had five large trees in our yard cut down as they were too close to our house. There were four oaks and a hickory. The trees were about 125 feet tall, with stumps ranging from 24" to 32". Is there anyway to estimate the age of these trees?

Thank-you. M. Hodges

 

[treeclimber165]

Get a magnifying glass. Count the rings on the stumps. Sometimes wetting the wood will make the rings easier to see. You can even tell which years the tree grew more. Lighter rings are spring/summer growth, darker rings are winter (dormant).

Since there are many different varieties of oak and hickory which live in different climates and grow at different rates, and we have no clue where these trees were, I cannot guess which types you might have had.

 

[John Paul Sanborn]

A rule of thumb I've heard up here is 1/3-1/4 inch of growth per year.

The mesurment is taken at 4.5 feet (too late now)

So if they were 20 inches DBH (dia. at brest hight) then around 60-80 years.

What you would call a SWAG estimate.