How Can I Tell If My Tree Is A Safety Hazard?

Here at The Hideout, safety is our number one goal throughout the entire community and in everything we promote.

This expectation extends to the responsibility of individual homeowners, renters, and their guests. In regards to tree safety, there is plenty to be worried about. Be sure to routinely walk around your property and visually inspect your trees, especially after storm events or heavy ice/snow. Your tree’s health can change day to day depending on a number of reasons, so it is best practice to know if you and your property are in danger or not by continuously monitoring your trees. It is important to note that while every precaution can be taken, mother nature cannot be controlled and it is almost impossible to prevent limbs or trees falling down.

Even healthy trees will fail under ideal conditions!

Often times, it is very easy to see if dangerous tree conditions exist, but your best bet is to routinely have a certified arborist or tree care professional inspect the trees on your property and to follow their recommendations.

Think of it as preventative maintenance, much like what we do with our vehicles. By addressing little concerns over time in advance by pruning or selective removal of particular trees and limbs, you can avoid costly accidents from happening down the road.

So you may be asking yourself, what constitutes a tree hazard? The USDA Forest Service defines it as “the recognized potential that a tree or tree part may fail and cause injury or damage by striking a target. All standing trees within areas occupied by people, property, and structures present some level of hazard. Hazard exists when a tree of sufficient size and mass to cause injury or damage is within striking distance of people, property, or structures (targets).”

Here are some common things homeowners can look for to determine if there are potential tree hazards on your property and ways to be proactive at reducing tree related risks:

• Dead or Falling Branches: If you are seeing an increase in the amount of limbs falling off your tree, it’s a tell tale sign that it may be experiencing some form of stress and is responding to that stressor by limiting how nutrients and water are distributed throughout the plant as a whole. If large dead branches are still attached to a tree, it’s inevitable that they will come down during high winds or heavy ice/snow, potentially landing on your property.

•  What to do: Contact a certified arborist or tree care professional of your choosing and have them selectively trim your tree, removing the dead branches by cutting them just outside the branch collar. The professional may recommend treatment measures such as fertilizers to help restore tree vigor. You do NOT need a Tree Removal Permit from The Hideout if you are having professionals trim your tree nor do you need to obtain a permit from The Hideout for fertilizer applications to your trees.  

• Rot/Decay: If you are seeing patches of discoloration on the bark of the tree, weeping wounds, or mushroom like growths, these are all signs of possible rot and decay. Sadly, there is not much that can be done to save the tree at this point as a fungal infection is likely to have occurred internally and the problems will only worsen or spread to other trees nearby.

• What to do: Contact a certified arborist or tree care professional of your choosing and have them assess your tree. If they determine the tree should be removed given the amount of decay in combination to the close proximity of the concerning tree to structures on your property/near neighboring properties, be sure to submit a Tree Removal Permit Application to The Hideout prior to any work being performed.

• Branches Overhanging Roof/Trees Leaning Towards House: A tree with limbs directly overhanging or leaning hard towards your house should be considered as potential safety hazards. Even healthy trees can fail given the proper conditions, so it is best to remove, isolate, or install devices to address noticeable concerns as best as you can. It’s important, however, to realize that trees will grow in response to various environmental stimuli such as seeking out sunlight (known as phototropism) where the tree may self-correct or growing around rocks and other obstacles (known as geotropism). Both of these behaviors can result in a tree to lean. If a tree appears to be leaning as a result of wind or root damage (uprooting), however, it should be removed as it will inevitably fail at some point.

• What to do: Contact a certified arborist or tree care professional of your choosing and have them assess your particular situation. They may be able to install a cable, anchor, or brace system to help strengthen particular limbs of concern, reducing the risk of failure, and avoiding the need for removal. If they feel some trim work is necessary to remove certain limbs, you do NOT need a Tree Removal Permit from The Hideout. If it is advised to remove a tree as the conditions are far too hazardous, you will need to submit a Tree Removal Permit to The Hideout prior to any work being performed.

• Codominant Stems: Trees that appear with stems in the shape of a “V” rather than a “U” should be identified and recognized as potentially concerning. Usually, this feature can be avoided from occurring by easily pruning the tree when it is young, often during planting. However, if not addressed while the tree is young, a “V” shape/codominant stem presents the ideal situation for one or both sides of the tree to split at some point as it matures.

•  What to do: Contact a certified arborist or tree care professional of your choosing and have them assess tree’s exhibiting codominant stems. If one of the stems is dead, it may be advisable to remove that particular limb or the tree as a whole, depending on the situation and risk potential. They may be able to install a brace system to help strengthen the point of union, reducing the trees risk of failure. Studies have shown that it takes a tremendous amount of extra force for a codominant stem to fail at the union point if it has a brace system properly installed just above the “V”. If it is advised to remove a portion of or the entire tree, you will need to submit a Tree Removal Permit to The Hideout prior to any work being performed.

• Holes/Cavities: Holes and cavities can form in your tree for a variety of reasons, but most occur when the tree has reached maturity and is stressed. Some issues can stem from damages incurred when the tree was young, and the tree was unable to recover.  
  Woodpeckers, for example, will create large holes in the bark of your tree in their search for woodboring insects. Sapsuckers will create horizontal and vertical rows of holes in the bark of your tree in their search for sap. By creating these open wounds, the perfect scenario for various fungi and vectors of disease to enter into the tree are now available.
   
  Humans also aid in creating ideal conditions for tree health issues by permanently attaching objects to trees, hence why The Hideout has a Rule and Regulation prohibiting such activity from occurring (Refer to page 15 of the ECC Manual). If you are found to have permanently attached objects to tree’s in the community, you will be subject to an ECC citation.
   
  Woodboring insects will create emergence holes in the bark of trees once they have reached their adult phase, but will also create “galleries” during their larval stage where they essentially girdle the tree under the surface of the bark in the cambium zone. Insect activity, inside and outside of the tree, and the ensuing interest of birds drawn to a tree in search of insects, are tell-tale signs that the tree is stressed and things will likely only get worse.
   
  Cavities can also form inside trees, usually around trunks, after the tree undergoes decay in response to a stressor. While this doesn’t necessarily present an immediate danger situation, it is something to keep in mind as the tree has been weakened and may not be able to withstand harsh outdoor conditions such as high winds, which will likely result in its failure.

• What to do:  Contact a certified arborist or tree care professional of your choosing and have them assess insect/woodpecker activity as well as any tree cavities. It may be advisable to remove a tree that is encountering heavy insect and woodpecker damage to reduce the issues from moving over to neighboring trees. As for cavities, depending on the age and overall health of the tree, and potential for risk, it may be advisable that the tree be removed. If it is advised to remove a tree, you will need to submit a Tree Removal Permit to The Hideout prior to any work being performed.

• Large/Tall Trees Immediately Surrounding Your Home: As mentioned, not all trees of hazard display outward symptoms and some hazardous conditions can just be from the very existence of a particular tree given its relative distance to your home, even if its healthy.  

• What to do: Carefully weigh out your options before deciding if a tree needs removal or not. Keep in mind that the tree was probably there long before you were, so you’re in its home! It took numerous years to grow to this point and chances are pretty good it will continue to have a healthy life if cared for. Contact a certified arborist or tree care professional of your choosing to assess the risk potential of any tree standing closely to your household. No one can tell the future, but it may be advised to remove trees based on proximity to your house and susceptibility of that particular species of tree to failure or disease. If it is advised to remove a tree, you will need to submit a Tree Removal Permit Application to The Hideout prior to any work being performed.  

 
Always keep in mind that the more trees you remove from around your household, the more it will impact your property value and heating/cooling costs. Your homeowner’s insurance may also be impacted by the number of trees near your dwelling, which can understandably present difficult decisions for you as the homeowner.

Natural trees and landscapes can comprise up to 20% of your properties real estate value and you could save hundreds of dollars a year on heating and cooling as the trees will help insulate your house during the winter months and help provide shade during the summer months. Want to know how much preserving a particular tree species around your house can impact your budget? Check out this link: http://www.treebenefits.com/calculator/

Need to make arrangements to have a Certified Arborist inspect the trees on your property? Be sure to visit http://www.treesaregood.org/, click on the “Find and Arborist” link, and enter in your information to be provided with a list of locally based ISA Certified Arborists.”