Just because you have a tree on your property does not mean that you know how to take good care of it. Thankfully, there are plenty of professionals who have the expertise to perform a tree risk assessment of your trees. Your responsibility is to know when and why to have a tree assessed. Here are the top five.
Your Tree Could Be Dangerous
Although you may enjoy having trees in your yard, there are some scenarios in which they can become dangerous. This is especially true of large trees that are close to your home or other important property features.
When these trees break or fall, they pose a serious threat to any person or structure nearby. The results can often be harmful, extremely costly, and occasionally fatal. For those reasons, you should always consult a tree care professional to assess your trees anytime they appear at risk of losing their structural integrity.
Trees Can Become Unhealthy
As is the case with humans, trees can also become unhealthy to the point where they need an expert’s opinion. It is common for trees to experience disease, fungal infections, insect infestations, and much more.
Diagnosing such problems can be quite challenging if you don’t know how to assess an unhealthy tree. Considering there are so many tree varieties and different ways that each one can become sick, knowing what’s wrong with your tree and deciding what to do become more difficult.
When left untreated, a diseased tree will decline more rapidly than it normally would. It may also spread its infection to other trees nearby, thus threatening their health as well.
If you want to avoid such an issue and ensure your trees have the best opportunity to survive, you’ll need to call for an assessment anytime you see signs such as leaf discoloration or visible mold and mildew. Once you make that call, an expert will know how to identify the issue at hand and what to do to help your tree live a long, healthy life.
There are Storms Coming to Your Area
Another reason to have the trees on your property assessed is if there is a strong storm coming to your area. During times of heavy precipitation and forceful winds, large and small trees alike are at risk of damage.
For Canadians, cold winter snowstorms are the most likely culprit here. Heavy snow accumulations add excessive weight to tree branches and can cause them to break. So, while there are already a few items on your go-to winter storm preparation list, you’d be wise to add tree assessment as well.
Have your trees assessed before the arrival of hazardous weather events in your area. Doing so gives you a chance to see which trees are at risk of coming down once the storm arrives. With that knowledge, you can prune and remove trees as needed. With the small cost of an assessment upfront, you get to avoid expensive storm damage that may come later.
Construction Will Soon Take Place Near Your Tree
Construction poses a significant risk to trees for several reasons. Most notably, construction often involves activities like demolition and excavation along with the main building goals of the project. All of these activities are likely to cause accidental damage to any trees nearby that don’t have the proper protection.
Similarly, building projects naturally involve a lot of foot traffic and vehicular traffic, the weight of which can easily lead to soil compaction. Once the soil is compact, your trees will struggle to spread their roots to reach the water and soil nutrients they need.
To avoid those negative outcomes, it is best to use the right tree protection before construction begins. But what needs to happen first is an assessment of all your nearby trees to see which ones are worth keeping and protecting and which can come down.
Nearby Trees Have Recently Come Down
This final point may seem somewhat counterintuitive. But, one excellent reason to have a tree assessed is if there are others that were once around it and have recently come down. There are two main reasons why this is a good sign that you need an assessment.
First, the trees that came down recently may have had a disease that could have spread to other trees. In that case, you can expect more to come down if left untreated with a severe disease.
Second, when other large trees come down, this can change the weather patterns on your property. A tree that once had wind protection may now be entirely exposed. So if there have been trees coming down on your property, it is a bright idea to have the others assessed before they cause you problems as well.
In Summary
There are plenty of occasions where it is appropriate to have a professional come look at your tree. If you’re having doubts about the health of your tree, call in an expert who can give you answers and attend to any issues.