Strong winter winds and trees are not compatible. Toss in the weight of ice and snow and trees have to struggle to remain intact and in place. Too often the overwhelming forces of nature will damage your trees, possibly seriously, and when that happens, the crew from Nashville’s leading tree service fires up the equipment and responds.
Emergency tree service focuses first on correcting dangerous conditions. The Parke Company will remove trees leaning on structures, clear and remove trees and limbs from driveways, and prune or remove trees that might represent a risk of personal injury.
Our objective is to address the emergency conditions quickly. Storms usually mean that everybody needs help all at the same time. Our first priority is our clients, but we have the tree specialists, wood chippers, and other equipment to assist others as well.
How to Clean Up Tree Damage from a Storm
Inspecting for Hidden Problems
Once the immediate problems are resolved, we recommend a survey of the rest of the trees by one of our arborists. Each tree should be inspected for root health, cracks, crown damage, and signs of disease.
Treatment recommendations on storm damaged trees will depend on the type of damage, tree health, species of tree, and potential for a recurrence of failure. Where tree trimming is required to restructure the crown, the tree will frequently require a series of pruning sessions over a number of years to bring it back to a desirable shape and strong structure.
Trees less than 20 feet high that are “leaning” can often be corrected by using cables, guys, and bracing to straighten and strengthen the plant. Typically the braces and guys are removed after a single growing season. Larger trees in the leaning category have to be carefully evaluated because they represent a likely risk for future falling.
The one positive that winter provides is that it makes it easier to evaluate a tree’s structure. With no leaves to contend with, an inspection for cracked branches, splits in stems, and shifting of root plate are far easier to do. However, the inspections should not end just because the storm is over.
Storms cause stress to trees, often creating cracks and damaging bark that can be missed in an inspection. When the thaw comes and growing season begins, those cracks can be open doors for insect infestations. An inspection at the start of spring will determine if the tree needs to be treated.
Mulching, fertilizer, and adequate irrigation will also assist a tree in recovering from a strong storm. Trees are a treasure. They are worth the effort to keep them alive and well.
Taking Advantage of Storm Damage
One silver lining can be had from a winter storm that damages your trees.
After the inspection, a general cleanup is usually performed, removing fallen branches and debris that is littering the lawn. If you like, and if the trees are appropriate, we can provide you with wood chip mulch using the tree parts we have cleaned up. If tree removal was part of the process, we can provide split firewood as well.