Preparing for Winter: Evaluating Your Trees for Potential Hazards

While summer isn’t officially over yet, there is little doubt that fall is on its way and winter will be here before you know it. If you spent last winter in Connecticut, you know that one minute we could have a foot of snow, and the next minute it could be sunny and -2 for a week. The winter of 2013/2014 was tough on a lot of us, but it was also tough on our landscaping.

With the cold and the snow brings severe storms and high winds that can turn weak tree branches into weapons of mass destruction. Vehicles parked near trees can be destroyed, windows in nearby buildings can be broken and siding damaged, incurring the high cost of repair. We’ve all seen the pictures of trees falling into a house after a major storm. A large tree with a weakened root system could essentially take out an entire house.

Now is the time to have trees evaluated for strength and durability. A qualified arborist at Evergreen Arborists can assess the health of your trees and look for obvious signs of disease and damage.

Winter is also an excellent time to have your large trees inspected by a certified arborist. Broken or dead tree limbs, split tops, decayed columns, fungal fruiting bodies, and more are easier to see when the leaves are gone. As a homeowner, you are responsible for the safety of your trees, so it’s important for you to know how healthy they are. Act now to remedy tree hazards before they cause injury or property damage. Knowing your trees are healthy provides a welcome peace of mind during our wild winter ice and wind storms in Connecticut.