If you want to protect your trees from storms like we had this month, you have to plan ahead.
Putnam County Tree Service owner Greg Allen said thinning out the inside of a tree makes it easier for the wind to pass through rather than knocking the tree over. He said the best time for trimming is late fall and into the winter.
“When you’ve got a real thick tree and you know lots of canopy is really thick, you go in and you start thinning the insides of that tree out,” Allen said. “And it kind of makes it, well it doesn’t kind of, it does. It makes it better for the wind to blow through it.
Allen said another consideration is the types of trees you have on your property. He said a White Pine has all its roots in the top of the ground so their poor root structure has them toppling over in wind storms. Allen said Bradford Pears are another tree that fare poorly in storms. He said all the weight is in the top of the tree and if you do not keep it trimmed you are going to lose the tree.
Allen said a good tree service can provide you with the preventative trimming to protect your trees from storms. He said they will also help you with trees that have already fallen.
Allen said although a downed tree should be removed, it may be best to leave the stump depending on its location.
“If it’s on a hillside I’d want to leave it for erosion control,” Allen said. “Stumps are unsightly, but sometimes they’re good. Like if it comes off a bankside or something I would recommend leaving it if you could stand to look at it because it helps with erosion control.”
Allen said there are trees like willows, willow oaks, and river birches that can help alleviate ground saturation. He said if you are losing trees toppling over at the ground level, you may have a saturation issue.
“I’ve seen people have wet grounds and we come back in a couple of years and they’ve planted these trees that we told them to plant and their problem has been solved,” Allen said.
Allen said if you do plant a river birch you want to keep them away from driveways and structures because the roots are invasive and can be destructive.
The post Putnam Tree Service Owner Said Plan Ahead To Protect Your Trees From Storms appeared first on News Talk 94.1/AM 1600.