How Can Trimming Your Trees Make Them More Resistant To Extreme Storms?
Lopsided or leaning trees can be a major hazard on your property. They're more likely to lose limbs during high winds, and falling limbs can cause damage to your home or injure people walking underneath. One of the best ways that you can help your trees resist storm-force winds is to trim them in order to make their limbs grow in a balanced way. To learn how regular tree trimming helps your trees survive severe storms intact, read on.
Makes the Tree More Compact
Trimming the end of a tree's limbs will encourage the tree to sprout new branches near the trunk. Regular trimming helps make a tree more compact, which improves its ability to resist high winds. The ends of tree limbs are thinner than the section near the trunk, which makes them more likely to break during extreme winds. Long tree limbs also act as a lever that allows high winds to exert more force on the base of the branch, which could cause it to snap.
Removes Leaves Near Branch Ends
Tree leaves create energy for the tree using sunlight, but they become a liability for the tree during extreme storms. Tree leaves act like a sail, and they'll increase the amount of force put on the limb during high winds. Trimming the small branches near the ends of a tree's limbs will help these limbs survive storms by limiting the amount of force they experience. Proper trimming will result in leaves clustering around the center of the tree, which is better able to withstand storm-force winds.
Helps the Tree Grow Straight
Trees that are leaning aren't as stable as trees that are growing straight up in the air. They're more likely to topple over during a severe storm since their center of gravity isn't perfectly over the root system that secures them to the ground.
If a tree starts to lean or grow limbs exclusively in one direction, it's trying to look for sunlight. Natural trees in the forest are surrounded by other trees, and taller trees can cast shade on trees that are shorter than them. As a result, trees naturally grow in the direction that provides their leaves with the most sunlight in order to survive. By trimming all of the trees on your property evenly and making sure none are casting too much shade on other trees, you help them grow straighter and make them more stable in storms.
When you want to make sure your trees are capable of withstanding extreme storms, make sure you trim them regularly. While trimming a tree will wound it for a short period of time, proper trimming will make a tree much stronger in the long run.
If you're not sure how to trim your trees correctly to make them grow compact, strong limbs, hire a professional tree trimming service to come trim the trees on your property once a year. A professional trimming service will know the right cuts to make in order to make your trees grow in a balanced way, increasing their stability and ability to withstand high winds.