Can Your Tree Be Saved?

Four days after a derecho swept through the region, crews are still removing downed trees and fallen branches. The good news is that damaged trees are not just removed willy-nilly. Each is assessed for stability and health and a decision is made on whether it can be saved and how to best go about it. Here is what goes into an assessment.

• Uprooting is very difficult to fix for any but the youngest trees. As the size and age of the uprooted tree increases, so do two other factors: the cost of the repair and the likelihood that the repair will not be successful.
• Stems are assessed on the type of defect, the size of the defect, and what type of conditions you expect the tree to withstand. Hollow trees are common, and as long as the trunk is no more than two thirds hollow, that is not a concern under normal conditions.
• Limbs are assessed as stems are. In addition, the closer a side branch is in width to the branch it is growing out from, the greater the likelihood that the limb will break off (these are called co-dominant limbs; stems can also be co-dominant if a tree is multi-stemmed). Limbs that have lost 50% or more in a storm are candidates for removal.

All treatments can be boiled down to three options:

1. Remove the risk by removing potential targets (move any potential targets such as people and property out of the hazard zone).
2. Mitigate the risk by repairing the damage by pruning, cabling, etc.
3. Remove the risk by removing the tree.

In urban settings, the first option is often off the table due to site constraints. This means you can either prune or remove the tree, depending on the extent of the damage. Again, if you need these services, we recommend you contact a professional certified arborist for help.

If you have to remove your tree, we have a number of programs that may help you with a replacement tree.

Photo credit: afagen on Flickr

One Response

1. Bonnie Coe says:

   July 11, 2012 at 6:33 am

   Bartlett took great care to save my 75+y/o Red Maple. It had a lot of damage high up and Bartlett pruned it without damage to lower, healthy branches. Love the tree and can’t say enough good things about Bartlett!