I really like how shady our yard is, but I'm not so excited about cleaning up everything that drops off the trees. I can't pick the fruit from the very top of the trees, so it rots and falls to the ground, and then it attracts mice and birds unless I clean it up straight away. I'm getting the trees all lopped back so I can get a break from all the cleaning up all this fallen fruit. This blog is all about how to get your backyard fruit trees lopped so that you don't have to clean up as much fallen fruit.
Lopping back the trees
What To Do If Your Privacy Tree Is Damaged In A Storm
Kenneth Kim
Trees make attractive and practical privacy screens. A row of arborvitae, for example, can add an extra several metres of privacy to a home and its garden. However, although trees can provide a privacy screen with a touch of life about it, they also face unique challenges. For one, a fence can be repaired or easily replaced — not so for trees.
Storm Damage is a Risk
Storms are one of the biggest risks to privacy trees. Australia is no stranger to savage storms, such as the one that brought down trees across South Australia last November. Unfortunately, even if a storm doesn't bring a tree down, it could do enough damage to remove some of the canopy. In a privacy screen, this could leave a gaping hole that allows people to see into your property.
If your privacy tree has been damaged in a storm, the following steps will help you decide on an appropriate course of action.
Assess the Damage
Although trees are hardy, they are not invincible. However, a tree can lose several branches and still survive. Where smaller branches are concerned, their loss is rarely fatal to a tree. Trees can seal smaller wounds much faster than they can larger wounds. If, for instance, your tree has lost a number of smaller branches in a recent storm but no large branches, it will likely survive.
Larger wounds, such as those caused by large branches breaking away from the trunk, leave trees vulnerable to disease and attack by pests. The same is true if the main stem of your tree has snapped or is badly damaged. In this instance, your tree may never recover its shape and the replacement branches that do grow will be weak and may become a hazard in the future.
Hire an Arborist
If your tree has been damaged in a recent storm and you are unsure of the extent of the damage, hire an arborist. An arborist can help to save you a lot of time and money simply by performing an assessment on your privacy tree. For instance, they may advise that you remove a badly damaged tree you would have otherwise kept.
An arborist can also help to save an injured tree and give it a better chance of surviving its injuries by administering fertilizer and removing any dead or damaged branches.
Has your privacy tree suffered at the hands of a storm? Call an arborist as soon as you can to ensure that your tree gets the help it needs.
Share