Forest Products Without Logging?

An environmentalist blog called “Earthbuddies” has been getting some attention for posting an article on the Japanese practice of daisugi, a method of cultivating cedar (“sugi“) trees to produce straight knot-free lumber that can be harvested without cutting down the tree.

The main trunk of the tree is pruned to create a platform (“dai“) that sends large shoots straight up into the air. These shoots can be harvested and turned into lumber, while leaving the platform tree to develop more shoots!

Read more about it in “Daisugi, The Ancient Bonsai Technique That Can Prevent Deforestation“.

(Featured image: Ryoan-ji 03.jpg by
Bernard Gagnon used under Creative Commons License)