Trees deliver wonderful value on both residential and commercial properties, from moderating temperatures to providing wildlife habitat and aesthetic pleasure. Sometimes, though, they need to come down, and this is a job that’s always best left to a professional arborist. What brings a tree to the point of potentially needing to be removed? And how do tree-care experts actually carry out that process?
Standing Dead Trees: An Asset and a Hazard
While some people might find them ugly or even sinister looking, standing dead trees, aka snags, are essential landscape and ecosystem features. A huge variety of wildlife relies on snags for habitat and food, from cavity-nesting birds to raccoons and black bears. These values aren’t restricted to wildlands, either. Dead trees can be high-value wildlife resources even in urban and suburban settings.
A tree can stand dead for years, decades, even centuries. But a tree skeleton does gradually decay and rot, including its belowground root system. If snags are located close to structures, roadways, or heavily used parts of a property, this creates a dangerous situation. From dropping limbs to toppling over in a storm wind, snags can certainly be a threat to life, limb, and property.
In light of their benefits, though, you may wish to keep standing dead trees if possible. Those that don’t put people, pets, or infrastructure in harm’s way can often be retained. A dead tree in a dangerous location, however, needs to come down.
Understanding Diseased Trees
By virtue of their unique physiology, trees don’t age and die like people do. Some tree species boast exceedingly long lifespans, even a version of near immortality, via production of genetically identical shoots or suckers. More pernicious to many trees than dying of old age is the threat of disease or infestation.
Many different diseases, from bacterial maladies to fungal pathogens, impact trees. Many of these agents have trouble infecting a healthy tree. But a tree suffering from drought stress, physical damage, or other problems may become much more vulnerable to disease.
Unfortunately, in many cases, by the time visible symptoms of a disease manifest, a tree may be past the point of rescue. Sometimes, though, diseased twigs, branches, or stems can be removed to prevent further spread of the malady.
How Arborists Assess and Remove Trees
Arborists work with property owners to carefully evaluate an ailing tree or standing snag and determine whether it can be retained. Signs of problems, from subtle disease symptoms to structurally unsound canopies, are often invisible to the untrained eye. This is why you need to have your trees inspected by a trained professional on a regular basis.
If a dead or diseased tree does need to come down, arborists develop a meticulous plan of action that emphasizes both efficiency and safety. These professionals consider the tree’s size and shape as well as its location and fall zone to determine the best procedure.
Some trees can be cut down whole. This straight felling involves a series of carefully made cuts to control the timing and direction of the drop. Larger specimens, or those with a limited fall zone, must be taken out sectionally. Arborists may use climbing ropes and rigging or even cranes for sectional cutting.
Rely on the Professionals for Safe Tree Removal
As much as you may love and cherish your trees, sometimes these wonderful plants are too dangerous or inconvenient to retain. Trust trained arborists to closely inspect dead or diseased trees and determine whether and how to remove them. When you need tree removal services in West Nyack, NY, contact Timberline.