http://www.care2.com/greenliving/tree-first-aid-after-a-storm.html
First Aid For Trees
In the aftermath of a major storm, the initial impulse of property owners is generally along the lines of “let’s get this mess cleaned up.” But hasty decisions can often result in removing trees that could have been saved.
Doing the right things after trees have been damaged can make the difference between giving your trees a good chance of survival and losing them unnecessarily. The National Arbor Day Foundation urges home and property owners to follow a few simple rules in administering tree first aid after a storm:
1. Don’t try to do it all yourself. If large limbs are broken or hanging, or if high climbing or overhead chainsaw work is needed, it’s a job for a professional arborist. They have the necessary equipment and knowledge needed, and are generally listed in the telephone directory under “Tree Service.”
2. Take safety precautions. Look up and look down. Be on the alert for downed power lines and dangerous hanging branches that look like they’re ready to fall. Stay away from any downed utility lines-low-voltage telephone or cable lines and even fence wires can become electrically charged when there are fallen or broken electrical lines nearby. Don’t get under broken limbs that are hanging or caught in other branches overhead. And, unless you really know how to use one, leave chainsaw work to the professionals.
3. Remove any broken branches still attached to the tree. Removing the jagged remains of smaller sized broken limbs is one common repair that property owners can make after a storm. If done properly, it will minimize the risk of decay agents entering the wound. Smaller branches should be pruned at the point where they join larger ones. Large branches that are broken should be cut back to the trunk or a main limb by an arborist. For smaller branches, follow the pruning guidelines shown in the illustration so that you make clean cuts in the right places, helping the tree to recover faster.
4. Repair torn bark. To improve the tree’s appearance and eliminate hiding places for insects, carefully use a chisel or sharp knife to smooth the ragged edges of wounds where bark has been torn away. Try not to expose any more of the cambium (greenish inner bark) than is necessary, as these fragile layers contain the tree’s food and water lifelines between roots and leaves.
5. Resist the urge to over-prune. Don’t worry if the tree’s appearance isn’t perfect. With branches gone, your trees may look unbalanced or naked. You’ll be surprised at how fast they will heal, grow new foliage, and return to their natural beauty.
6. Don’t top your trees! Untrained individuals may urge you to cut back all of the branches, on the mistaken assumption that reducing the length of branches will help avoid breakage in future storms. While storm damage may not always allow for ideal pruning cuts, professional arborists say that “topping” - cutting main branches back to stubs - is one of the worst things you can do for your trees. Stubs will tend to grow back a lot of weakly-attached branches that are even more likely to break when a storm strikes.
Also, the tree will need all its resources to recover from the stress of storm damage. Topping the tree will reduce the amount of foliage, on which the tree depends for the food and nourishment needed for regrowth. A topped tree that has already sustained major storm damage is more likely to die than repair itself. At best, its recovery will be retarded and it will almost never regain its original shape or beauty.
Courtesy of the National Arbor Day Foundation in cooperation with the USDA Forest Service and the International Society of Arboriculture.
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add your comment »There are many more reasons not to DIY tree work.
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After two hurricanes and an ice storm here (SW Louisiana) in the past 12 years, I have to say that the advice you gave is good. However, after an event like Hurricane Rita, being able to find an arborist for hire is a joke. Solution: we try to have our live oaks professionally trimmed in between calamities, and have learned safe and effective (non-chainsaw) ways to take down some lodged limbs ourselves when circumstances dictate. One live oak, maybe 40 feet high, is misshapen, although healthy. I doubt we'll see it recover its good looks in our lifetime, but as long as it is robust, here it will stay.
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We have two catalpa trees over 70 ft high. After cleaning up after a recent storm the tree guy shoved a hanger a good foot into the trunk of one of the catalpas. "Gotta come down", says he. We are still cleaning up the mess from cleaning up the mess so I declined but am nagged by the thought of this tree being unsafe. Is the wire hanger in the trunk a scam? The trees have never failed to bloom and have lost not a single branch that I am aware of.
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A large branch started to break 5 years ago... we made a letter to the "municipio" (I'm mexican) to help... if we wanted them to cut it we had to donate 2 little trees... we did... nothing happened... the rain season came... we went again... "your request it's been processed" they said... The branch was little bit more broken... then the rain season came yet again... and nothing... the branch fell on the cables... the respective people fixed the cables... and then the "municipio" sent the choppers... they cut the top of the tree... So, a little bit more than 2 years passed, we waited time and money and yet it all happended the way it had to... I hope you laugh a little and think of your country after this.
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Don't cut down trees unless you have to.
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After a major storm in MN, we ended up with a tree looking similar to the one in the photo above. Amazingly they were able to put the piece back in place and bolt it through the main trunk. The tree managed to heal and repair itself and a large part of the tree was saved.
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good article
plant native trees
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Wonderful article & advice!!!!!!!
Plant trees for life.......
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