As we experience spooky season this October, many of us can remember the way trees can contribute to a creepy cinematic atmosphere, from the sentient trees that grab Dorothy and the gang in The Wizard of Oz, to jagged leafless backgrounds in various films, to the semi-rare horror movie built around plants like M. Night Shmylan’s The Happening and cult curiosity fairy tale horror The Guardian. At Scrappy Creek, we love trees, but the scariness we worry about is the more common tree problems that befall Roanoke and Southwest Virginia property owners.
So for this month’s blog, we’re giving our blog a bit of spooky atmosphere as we help you identify scary common tree problems in Southwest Virginia before they cause you any issues.
Lurking in the Shadows: Hidden Decay
Horror writers and directors have always known the power of the unseen to scare people. In stories, it’s the imagination that gets you, but with trees, it’s decay!
Hidden decay is one common tree problem that can spell disaster for the tree and the property around it! But if it’s hidden, how do you recognize it?
Naturally, you can always count on local tree experts like us to come give your trees an inspection. But if you want to proactively look for signs, here are a few:
- Fungal growth like mushrooms or mold growing from the tree – while not a guarantee your tree is going to die, it can be a sign of poor health. If we catch it early, we may be able to help.
- Spongy wood – if you touch your tree and it feels spongy or springy, that is typically a bad sign. Let us check for decay.
- Hollowness – healthy trees typically feel solid. Hollow trees are missing substance on the inside, and that may mean decay.
- Pests – Ants and other pests will eat decaying wood.
- Fewer Leaves – This one is hard to spot this time of year as trees are shedding their leaves, but in the spring, if your trees have sparse foliage, that’s a sign of poor health.
Invasion – Roof and Property Damage
As a property owner, you always want to remove a tree before it falls. That’s because property damage from trees can be expensive and dangerous.
The biggest common tree problem is one that has reached its ultimate and worst conclusion – a tree falling on your home, car, or other property. Or worse – a tree that falls and hurts someone!
Of course, you don’t need a whole tree to fall to cause property damage. Even a heavy branch can crash through a roof or window and cause a major expense. Even if your insurance covers it, who knows what you’ll lose to the elements!
Let us do a property check to ensure you don’t have trees at risk of harming your property!
Jump Scares – Some Branches Are a Bad Storm Away from Falling
In our last section, we mentioned that even healthy trees can cause property damage under the right (or we should say wrong) conditions. But now let’s focus on dead branches.
Heavy, high branches, that reach far beyond the trunk of the tree can be especially dangerous. But then those branches (or whole trees) are dead, decaying, broken, or leaning and might come off unexpectedly, we call them “widow makers.”
That’s because if something like a strong wind or heavy snow causes them to crack and fall off, for anyone below, the impact is severe!
The coming winter months especially can be an extra dangerous time for Southwest Virginia trees. Brittle branches are most, but not exclusively, at risk. And the higher the branch, the more dangerous the outcome. Wondering if one of your trees is at risk of hurting someone or causing damage? Consider the following:
- Are branches extra high? As you know, impact compounds based on distance and weight. That’s why a quarter can kill a person if dropped from a skyscraper but not even sting if dropped from a foot up.
- Did the branches not have leaves? That could mean they’re brittle and more likely to break off.
- Are the branches above a highly trafficked area, a place where cars park, or near a structure? Any of those can make hitting a person or damaging property far more likely.
Let us help you with tree trimming these branches before someone gets hurt!
Tree Companies That Aren’t What They Seem…
In many horror movies, when things get tough, the central family, final girl or group of teens call in an expert: an exorcist, a psychic, a psychiatrist, or a backwoodsman who can handle the monsters, human or otherwise, haunting the central cast. In the case of Southwest Virginia homeowners experiencing common tree problems, those experts are tree care specialists.
But what if that expert is no expert at all? Dun dun dun. Watch out for unlicensed tree care professionals, or just guys with saws. Not only can they damage your trees. They may hurt themselves! And unlicensed tree care professionals are often uninsured tree care professionals. Now that’s scary!
So when there’s something strange in your trees’ neighborhood, who you gonna call? Scrappy Creek!
