Easy Call

I get to do lots of shade tree calls in my work, and this is an interesting one I saw over the weekend on a day off. This tree was recently struck by lightning, and large portions of the crown will soon be dead. Taking this white oak down will be expensive because it will have to be done with a bucket truck, and removal is a necessity in the very near future. The tough call was missed many years ago, probably when the homes in this neighborhood were built, between forty and fifty years ago. It was wounded during construction, and was allowed to remain. The wound caused this tree to rot, creating a hollow, dangerous stem. The tree appeared to be healthy, but its hollow butt makes it very risky to have next to houses. It should have been removed and replaced when it first was damaged.

Falling a tree near houses is always risky, but this one cannot be felled conventionally because of the high risk caused by rot and a hollow stem. It will have to be taken down from the top, in pieces, with the aid of a bucket truck. The bright side of this case is that the lightning strike is going to trigger the removal of a dangerous tree before anyone is hurt.