Preparing Trees for Winter
If you you’ve lived in Central Oregon for a few years, you know that it can start snowing fairly early in the fall season. Often times our mountains see a dusting of snow by the end of September.
And if you were here in 2009, you might remember one of our earliest snowfalls on October 4. It definitely snuck up on everyone, including our urban trees. I remember walking outside of my house and hearing a cacophony of chainsaws combined with the sound of cracking wood in my neighborhood as people were frantically trying to remove storm damaged trees. The trees in Bend had not dropped their leaves yet, so the heavy snow put undo stress on already heavy limbs. Many trees were damaged that morning.
Heavy snowfall combined with strong winds, typical in the early season, can be a real threat to trees as well as nearby buildings and property. Some trees may fare okay in a heavy snowstorm, while others may suffer from limb breakage. In the worst-case scenarios, a tree may split in two or may break off at the trunk, creating a real problem. Often times, it is the stressed or disease ridden trees that suffer the most, so again, tree health is of the utmost importance.
We have removed some pretty crazy wind or snow downed trees that have damaged houses, autos and property. See some of our photos below for a large job we had one year after a snowstorm. While this can be interesting work for us, we’d much rather see trees live through these storms.
Now is the time to start thinking about preparing trees for winter to protect them as best you can throughout the winter months. The Oregon Department of Forestry’s Urban and Community Forestry Program puts out a good guide for reducing tree damage in future storms.
Good pruning techniques are very important and only a Certified Arborist can take a thorough look at your trees and know how to properly prune them. Give us a ring at 541-480-4223 to schedule a time for an assessment or contact us by email here.
Until then…. Pray for snow. 🙂
