When you have trees on your property, and particularly big ones, you tend to worry about them during storms. Things like strong winds, heavy rains, lightning, and heavy snow have the ability to cause tree damages of various degrees, depending on how severe the storm is. In some of the worst scenarios, trees damaged in a storm can also damage properties and become safety hazards. Luckily, you can take preventative measures with the right preparations. There are ways you can protect your trees and lower the risk of additional damage throughout bad storms. Our team at Five Star Tree Services want to go over ways you can prepare your trees for storms.
Professional Arborist Assessment
One of the first things you can do to prepare your trees is have them professionally assessed by an arborist. The process of tree risk assessment will include a comprehensive inspection to identify potential weak points and hazards in your trees. The arborist is looking for signs of decay, disease, damage, and other things that indicate the susceptibility of damage occurring during storms.
Once the assessment is done, the arborist can make recommendations to help address and prevent these issues from affecting the tree. The ultimate goal is to improve the overall strength and health of the trees. Some recommendations might include a combination of pruning, cabling and bracing, or even the removal of the tree.
Improving Overall Tree Strength & Health
There are three main things that can be done to help your trees withstand bad storms and/or prevent damage from happening to your property. This includes pruning, cabling & bracing, and tree removal.
Pruning
One of the most effective ways to help prepare trees for storms is with pruning. Weak, dead, diseased, or damaged branches are removed, which will allow the tree to have less weaknesses and withstand the storm better if there are strong winds, heavy rains, or snow. Having a professional arborist perform this pruning is important. They have all the necessary equipment and knowledge to safely prune trees and prune in a way that optimizes and promotes healthy growth while also reducing the risk of any future damage.
Cabling & Bracing
When additional support is needed for large branches that are weak or damaged, cabling and bracing techniques can be utilized. This is when cables or rods are installed in the tree to help redistribute the weight of these branches. Doing so will help reduce the risk of these branches breaking during storms. It is important to enlist professionals to execute this. They have the knowledge and experience that help them determine optimal placement of cables and braces. They take into account the size of the tree, the specific species of tree, and what condition it is in.
Tree Removal
One of the last resorts used by professional arborists is tree removal. This is only used when the protection of the property and safety are in jeopardy and the other preventative preparation techniques won’t help save the tree. Trees that are dead, badly diseased, or a threat to the property or safety of the family will need to be safely removed by arborist professionals. Since tree removal is a last potion, arborists can recommend other techniques if they believe the tree can be salvaged.
How Five Star Tree Services Can Help
An essential protection plan for anyone who has trees on their property is storm preparation. This preparation will help ensure your property is protected from damage and your family is safe. When you hire tree care professionals for your risk assessment, and subsequent action plan, you are helping to minimize the risk of accidents happening during bad storms. Our arborists at Five Star Tree Services would be happy to help you with your tree care in Toronto! The purpose of preventative storm tree preparation is to be prepared. Don’t wait until it’s too late, protect your tree, your property, and your family today. Contact us at (416) 990-3355!
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