P.O. Box 1135, Pacific Palisades, CA 90272 • St. Lic. # 728538
Call: (310) 454-2033 • Fax: (310) 454-6915 • ginkgoone@aol.com
Mellinger Tree and Landscape Service
(310) 454-2033
Recognizing Tree Hazards
Trees provide significant benefits to our homes and cities, but when trees fall and injure people or damage property, they are liabilities. Taking care of tree hazards makes your property safer and prolongs the life of the tree.
Trees are an important part of our world. They offer a wide range of benefits to the environment and provide tremendous beauty.
However, trees may be dangerous. Trees or parts of trees may fall and cause injury to people or damage to property. We call trees in such situations hazardous, to signify the risk involved with their presence. While every tree has the potential to fall, only a small number actually hit something or someone.
Managing Tree Hazards
An arborist can help you manage the trees on your property and can provide treatments that may help make your tree safer, reducing the risk associated with hazardous trees. An arborist familiar with hazard tree evaluation may suggest one or more of the following:
• Remove the target. While a home or a nearby power line cannot be moved, it is possible to move picnic tables, cars, landscape features, or other possible targets to prevent them from being hit by a falling tree.
• Prune the tree. Remove the defective branches of the tree. Because inappropriate pruning may weaken a tree, pruning work is best done by an ISA Certified Arborist.
• Cable and brace the tree. Provide physical support for weak branches and stems to increase their strength and stability.
• Provide routine care. Mature trees need routine care in the form of water, fertilizer (in some cases), mulch, and pruning as dictated by the season and their structure.
• Remove the tree. Some hazardous trees are best removed. If possible, plant a new tree in an appropriate place as a replacement.
• Recognizing and reducing tree hazards not only increases the safety of your property and that of your neighbors but also improve the tree’s health and may increase its longevity!
Ensuring Quality Care for Your Tree
Trees are assets to your home and community and deserve the best possible care. If your tree needs to be examined by an ISA Certified Arborist, please contact Mellinger Tree and Landscape Service. We are Certified Arborists who are professionals dedicated to preserving and protecting your growing investment.
Insect & Disease Problems
Insects and diseases can threaten tree health. As soon as you notice any abnormality in your tree’s appearance, you should begin a careful examination of the problem. By identifying the specific symptoms of damage and understanding their causes, you may be able to diagnose the problem and select an appropriate treatment.
The Nature of Tree Health Problems
Basic elements that influence plant health include sufficient water and light, and a proper balance of nutrients. Too much or too little of any of these environmental conditions may cause plant stress.
Environmental stress weakens plants and makes them more susceptible to insect and disease attack.
Trees deal with environmental stresses, such as shading and competition for water and nutrients in their native environment, by adjusting their growth and development patterns to reflect the availability of the resources. Although trees are adapted to living in stressful conditions in nature, many times the stresses they experience in the landscape are more than they can handle and may make them more susceptible to insects and diseases.
Avoiding Tree Damage During Construction
As cities and suburbs expand, wooded lands are being developed into commercial and residential sites. Homes are constructed in the midst of trees to take advantage of the aesthetic and environmental value of the wooded lots. Wooded properties can be worth as much as twenty percent more than those without trees, and people value the opportunity to live among trees.
Unfortunately, the processes involved with construction can be deadly to nearby trees. Further, unless damage is extreme, the trees may not die immediately, but could decline over several years. With this delay in symptom development, you may not associate the loss of the tree with the construction.
It is possible to preserve trees on building sites if the right measures are taken. The most important step is to hire a professional arborist during the planning stage. An arborist can help you decide which trees can be saved, and can work with the builder to protect the trees throughout each construction phase.
Treatment of Trees Damaged by Construction
The process involved with construction can be devastating to the surrounding trees if no measures have been taken to protect them. The visible injuries such as broken branches and wounds to tree trunks are only the beginning. It is the damage to the root systems that often result in tree loss.
In an ideal situation, an arborist is called in to consult in the planning stages of construction. Trees can be preserved if the appropriate measures are taken soon enough. Unfortunately, it is usually when the first signs of decline appear that help is sought.
There are some remedial treatments that may save some construction-damaged trees, but immediate implementation is critical. If you have trees that have been affected by recent construction, consult Mellinger Tree and Landscape Service. We can assess each tree for viability and potential hazards, and recommend treatments.
