Tree Rings

I was doing some remodeling recently and was "re-purposing" some of the 2X4s that I removed in another project when I noticed one of the 2X4s was very hard to cut. When I checked the end grain of the 2X4 I found very tightly packed tree rings. This 2X4 was used in construction of our house over 40 years ago and must have come from some old growth timber.

Trees will add a new ring for each year of growth and I counted over 100 different tree rings within this 1.5 inch section of wood. Based upon the curvature of the tree rings this section of 2X4 was located about 16 inches from the center of the tree and the tree was therefore at least 3 feet in diameter.

This 2X4 must have come from a tree that was over a 1,000 years old.



Pine tree plantations in the South consider trees mature at 25-40 years old. Plantation trees are typically thinned when trees are 12-15 years old to promote the growth. These plantation grown trees have large gaps between the tree rings due to their rapid growth and the wood is much softer.

A close-up view of the tree rings.