Best way to preserve bark? Not the live edge of sawn wood -- just chunks of bark.

I have some chunks of porous, partially decomposed fallen tree bark that I'd like to preserve somehow. (It's either oak, elm, or ash -- possibly a combo.) My ultimate goal is to incorporate them into a wall-mounted plant art thing. I allowed the bark pieces to dry out for a week or so to allow anything living in them to voluntarily relocate. Then I froze them for a few days to kill any stragglers. Then, sterilized them in a 225F oven for a couple of hours. Now they're in a pot of water to get rid of the dirt. (This should have been step 1, but I didn't think about it until after they came out of the oven.) I am now confident that no detritivores are living in the bark and decomposing it from within. Is there a way I can preserve these pieces further to slow decomposition for as long as I can, for the sake of my eventual wall-mounted plant art thing? submitted by /u/mudpupster [link] [comments]

Feb 12, 2025 - 21:27

I have some chunks of porous, partially decomposed fallen tree bark that I'd like to preserve somehow. (It's either oak, elm, or ash -- possibly a combo.) My ultimate goal is to incorporate them into a wall-mounted plant art thing.

I allowed the bark pieces to dry out for a week or so to allow anything living in them to voluntarily relocate. Then I froze them for a few days to kill any stragglers. Then, sterilized them in a 225F oven for a couple of hours. Now they're in a pot of water to get rid of the dirt. (This should have been step 1, but I didn't think about it until after they came out of the oven.)

I am now confident that no detritivores are living in the bark and decomposing it from within. Is there a way I can preserve these pieces further to slow decomposition for as long as I can, for the sake of my eventual wall-mounted plant art thing?

submitted by /u/mudpupster
[link] [comments]