With the recent storms and high winds that have impacted our area, it’s important to take action with preventative storm maintenance for your trees. Here are some helpful tips to get your trees ready to weather whatever storms come our way this winter:
- Soak the soil surrounding your trees before the ground freezes and apply a thick layer of winter mulch to prevent winter winds from picking up the soil.
- For smaller trees, create a windscreen made of a material such as burlap to shield them from the strong winds.
- For larger trees, such as evergreens, spray the foliage with an anti-desiccant product to prevent winter wind and salt damage.
- Anchor small saplings into the ground on four sides to prevent the tree trunk from snapping in half.
- Have your trees pruned. Branches can be thinned to reduce their surface area and wind resistance.
- Invasive vines should be removed from tree canopies, as the trees won’t able to withstand additional wind and snow load created by the extra leaf area of the vines.
As winter approaches, we can expect to see storms with high winds in our future, so it’s necessary to act before damage occurs to our trees. With proper maintenance throughout the year, your trees will be stronger and better able to resist storm damage.
Don’t forget you can contact Cartwright Tree Care with your questions regarding tree maintenance and health care. We can provide quick quotes 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year within 24 hours – call us at 816-965-6758 for your quick quote!
Tips adapted from: SDOT, Tree Care Industry Association, and Associated Content.
Photo credit: Tim Nelson via MPR News.