This specimen of Melaleuca armillaris from the Marimurtra Botanical Garden suffers from its architecture that is dominated by other trees and a horizontal branch that threatens to break. The aim of the intervention is to prevent breakage. This proposal is known as dynamic artificial support, and is based on a concept called the thigmomorphogenesis effect, which involves the movements and biochemistry that determine tree growth.
Instead of using a fixed support, which would limit the growth of the tree, a dynamic solution has been chosen that allows movement. When there is wind, the lift is adjusted because the branch goes down, and when there is no wind, it goes up, to imitate the natural movement that the branch would make without any support and therefore the tree continues to have the perception of the load of the winds
In the technical field, this dynamic support is composed of a tube that fits into another, and in which there is a shock absorber that works in oscillations to avoid unwanted vibrations. It is therefore a question of the tree making a natural regulation of the risk, through adaptive growth, producing reaction wood wherever it is needed.
Both the design proposal, installation and technical information have been provided by Sergi Perdices, Arborist, Manager of Naturalia Jardiners and Josep Manel Fernández, recognized master trainer of arborists.
