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Is That Tree A Danger?
Trees are arguably the most valuable plants on earth. Besides beautifying our landscape, they provide building materials, produce oxygen for us to breath and increase the value of our property. While their benefits are many and varied, trees also have the potential to cause injury and property damage.
"Property owners need to be more aware of the hazard potential of trees," warns Brian Nadriczny, a certified arborist with The Care of Trees, an arboricultural firm serving clients in Connecticut, New Jersey and New York. "Big trees and limbs can weigh many hundreds of pounds. They can do a surprising amount of damage when they fall. We see hazardous trees just about every day on the job."
Uprooted trees and falling limbs can have a big financial impact as well. A property owner can be held legally responsible for injury and damage cause by trees on his or her land.
The Care of Trees is frequently retained by homeowners, golf courses, universities and all kinds of commercial properties to perform risk assessments on trees. Some of what they do requires special knowledge and equipment, but there are a lot of problems homeowners can spot for themselves, Nadriczny says.
"Walk around your property, especially close to your house, places where people gather like children’s play areas and where you park your cars. Look up into the big trees. Large dead branches are a problem. Sooner or later they’ll fall."
Another potential hazard are trees with large branches attached at narrow V-shaped forks. They are usually weak and you should consider having those branches removed, lightened or strengthened with a cable, Nadriczny advises.
If any of the tall trees--even healthy-looking ones--lean towards your house or anything else you don’t want them to land on, they should be looked at by a professional. They could come down in a storm. One of the new tools an arborist might use in this situation is a resistograph. This instrument can detect otherwise hidden internal cavities and decayed wood that can make trees weak and therefore more likely to snap under the strain of an ice storm, snow accumulation or high winds. Also, arborists know which types of trees have shallow root systems and therefore may be more likely to fall over.
Nadriczny says the best way to prevent your trees from becoming hazardous is to keep them healthy. No matter what the type, all trees need three things: water, light and nutrients. Too much or too little of any of these may stress the tree. If severe and prolonged, stress can kill part or all of the tree. Stress also make trees more susceptible to attack by disease and insects. If leaves are falling early, are unusually small, chewed up, full of holes, curled, or covered with spots or blotches, the tree needs to be checked by an experienced arborist.
Trees having branches within 10 feet of a power line pose a hazard of a different kind. "If that tree touches an electrical wire and you touch the tree, you could be electrocuted, warns Nadriczny. "Don’t go near that tree. Call a professional immediately."
The Care of Trees provides a full range of arboricultural services for residential and commercial clients in the Chicago, New York City, Philadelphia and Washington, DC areas. It is the exclusive tree-care company for the American Horticultural Society and its commercial clients include Motorola, PepsiCo, the United Nations, Yale University and numerous golf courses, cemeteries, office buildings and parks and municipalities.
The company’s website, www.thecareoftrees.com, contains frequently updated plant healthcare advice and disease and insect alerts.
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