I tagged along with Mrs. TBS Monday evening to her Garden Club meeting, and while the ladies were looking at flowers, I checked out the host's shade trees. This 40" diameter pin oak caught my eye right away because of the mis-shapen area on its west side. Before I walked over to it, I noted that it is leaning slightly to the east, and the crown is heavy to the east.
That swollen area is not good news. I didn't have anything with me to thump the stem, but the problem is easily visible when viewed from the west side.
Wounds on the west side have left an opening, and the tree has rotted so the stem is hollow about eight feet above the ground.
Looking into the opening at an angle, you can see that the west side is supported only by a thin shell of wood. This is a massive tree, over ninety feet tall, and forty inches diameter at 4 1/2' above the ground. There is a lot of weight riding on that shell.
This tree also has its crown weighted south, so if it was cut loose it would fall right where the camera is pointing. The homeowner's bedroom is on the far right of the photo, so if the tree is knocked over during a storm blowing out of the northwest while she is asleep, she would probably survive. Her kitchen, family room, and dining room would be smashed, so survival in a storm depends a lot on timing.
A tree service with a bucket truck, or climbers could drop part of the crown on the far side to make this tree easy to drop to the west. (Right onto the camera in this shot.) If this tree was next to my house I would be taking it down ASAP. I will be checking back to see what the homeowner decides now that she has been told about the risks.
I tagged along with Mrs. TBS Monday evening to her Garden Club meeting, and while the ladies were looking at flowers, I checked out the host's shade trees. This 40" diameter pin oak caught my eye right away because of the mis-shapen area on its west side. Before I walked over to it, I noted that it is leaning slightly to the east, and the crown is heavy to the east.
That swollen area is not good news. I didn't have anything with me to thump the stem, but the problem is easily visible when viewed from the west side.
Wounds on the west side have left an opening, and the tree has rotted so the stem is hollow about eight feet above the ground.
Looking into the opening at an angle, you can see that the west side is supported only by a thin shell of wood. This is a massive tree, over ninety feet tall, and forty inches diameter at 4 1/2' above the ground. There is a lot of weight riding on that shell.
This tree also has its crown weighted south, so if it was cut loose it would fall right where the camera is pointing. The homeowner's bedroom is on the far right of the photo, so if the tree is knocked over during a storm blowing out of the northwest while she is asleep, she would probably survive. Her kitchen, family room, and dining room would be smashed, so survival in a storm depends a lot on timing.
A tree service with a bucket truck, or climbers could drop part of the crown on the far side to make this tree easy to drop to the west. (Right onto the camera in this shot.) If this tree was next to my house I would be taking it down ASAP. I will be checking back to see what the homeowner decides now that she has been told about the risks.
4 comments:
Ja, good idea to take a look at the trees around one's house. We had some trees taken down but apparently we missed one. A tree toppled last month and the roof was only six months old. (We don't live in the house but it will be our home at some point in the future again.)
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http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_1Ikrk5VwJoI/TCD3HbNScDI/AAAAAAAAALw/l5lBXX-ocpA/s1600/DSC07863-2.jpg
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Good catch, Sam. I hope she takes your advice.
It's amazing how much unseen damage water can do when it gets inside an old tree.I've seen a few old Rock Oaks on our mountain land that look like they've lost a limb or 2 along the way,once the water gets inside and starts rotting the tree from inside out,it's never a good thing.
Sycamores are one of the best trees for going hollow. They lose a limb high, one low, and pretty soon you have a home for chimney swifts, possums and coons. This quality gives sycamore a bad reputation with timber people, but it is undeserved. The landowners need to keep an eye on all of their various tree species so they can be harvested before they become "over-ripe." Here in the Midwest, white oak is one that keeps on the stump past maturity. Black oak, red oak, and pin oak won't wait too long when they are ready.
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