Springtime is here in the St. Louis, MO area. With spring weather comes April showers – and storms. High winds, torrential rain, thunder, lightning and the potential for other hazardous weather can wreak havoc on trees, whether big or small. Protect your landscape this year by knowing how, and when, to prepare your trees for springtime storms.
Check Your Trees
Once a year, call in an expert in the area of tree care and tree services. Professional arborists know trees inside and out, and can help homeowners decide the health of a tree, and if the tree is suitable to handle whatever weather a Missouri spring may bring. To ensure that your landscape and trees will be safe and ready to handle the first storm of the season, call a local tree services provider late in the winter, or as early on in spring as possible.
Along with checking the health of a tree, an expert tree care specialist will also check the environment that the tree is growing in. They will check the surrounding power lines to see how close a tree is to any individual line, and if the tree has the potential to be blown into the power line. A tree is a large organism, and can easily knock down power lines, therefore cutting off power, during a windy storm.
A tree care professional will check for any damage due to lack of sunlight, pests, or decay. These factors also determine if there is any dangerous deadwood to be pruned off of a large tree.
Remove Dead Areas and Dangerous Debris
By thoroughly checking all trees for dead spots, the chance of having debris fall and damage surrounding areas is greatly diminished. Dead areas of trees can develop through a multitude of factors, such as pest infestation, infectious diseases, lack of nutrient flow, or drought. Expert arborists can come and assist a homeowner in locating dead areas, branches, or tree roots. Through effective pruning, the risk of debris damaging an environment is much lower.
Monitor for Wind Resistance
Trees, as they grow taller and wider throughout the years, become more wind resistant. This effect is due to the amount of foliage and branches a tree may have. In spring, powerful storms arrive that catch tree branches and foliage quite easily and could cause breakage on smaller limbs. On an extra windy day, like those we occasionally find in a Missouri spring, breakage can fall onto a power line, causing damage, or possibly a fire.
When trees become too bulky on top, a tree pruning professional has the expertise to come in and trim down excess branches and foliage to lessen the amount of wind resistance safely and effectively. This process is called thinning and prevents breakage and debris from falling off a tree and causing property damage or physical harm.
Getting your landscape and trees professionally surveyed once a year can help prevent a multitude of damage to a property while maintaining the health of a tree. Jackson Tree Service offers professional tree pruning, tree removal, and other forms of tree care all year round in St. Louis and the surrounding area.