The Winter Tree Project You'll Want to Finish in These Next 6 Weeks

This week, the groundhog saw its shadow. That means six more weeks of winter. Even though it will be a little longer until warm spring days (sigh), there is now a little extra time to complete those tree projects that are best to tackle during winter. These projects include protecting trees and plants with horticultural oil, winter tree pruning, and tree cabling. Below is helpful information on tree cabling. (See here info on horticultural oil and winter tree pruning.) In these next six weeks, take a look at how well trees on your property are doing structurally. Seeing the full structure of a tree is more difficult once leaves emerge. So, take advantage of this opportunity in the next six weeks!

Below are some yes/no questions to ask when taking a look at the structure of trees on your property:

• Do limbs on the tree look weakened and not as strong as the others? Yes or No.
• Do you notice limbs that are smaller than the other limbs on the tree? Yes or No.
• Are parts of the tree leaning when other parts of the tree aren’t?
  Yes or No. 

If you answered yes to any of the questions above, give a certified arborist a call. A certified arborist will be able to assess if additional support to the tree is needed. A certified arborist might then suggest a tree cable installation. A tree cable is a flexible steel installed into the weak and unstable part of the tree to reduce stress damage from high winds, heavy foliage, or the weight of snow and ice. 

Three ways tree cabling helps your trees:

1.) Adds support - A cable helps trees better withstand severe weather conditions like heavy rain or ice. 

2.) Improves the longevity of a tree – Weakened and stressed trees are at a higher risk to snap or uproot.

3.) Strengthens weak limbs – Tree cables help take the pressure off weakened limbs and helps those weak limbs become stronger against unpredictable outside forces.

Wintertime is a great time to notice how your tree is doing structurally. Before warm spring days emerge along with tree leaves, take advantage of seeing how the bare branches of your trees look. If there are structural abnormalities in trees on your property, we suggest scheduling an estimate with a certified arborist. Click link to schedule your estimate below. 

As we say farewell to winter and hello to spring, we hope these last six weeks of winter are beautiful for you!