Sacramento Digs Gardening Article
Your resource for Sacramento-area gardening news, tips and events

Articles Recipe Index Keyword Index Calendar Twitter Facebook Instagram About Us Contact Us

Danger signs of trees toppling, dropping branches

Sacramento Digs Gardening
BY Debbie Arrington PUBLISHED FEB 14, 2019

Look up at the limbs of redwoods and other evergreens to make sure no broken or damaged branches are about to fall.
(Photo: Debbie Arrington)

What to watch during wet, windy winter weather before things fall

What can make a massive 80-foot redwood topple over? Saturated soil and a strong gust of wind.

Sacramento has seen both this week as an atmospheric river pushed through record amounts of rain, accompanied by wicked winds.

According to the National Weather Service, Sacramento Executive Airport received a record 2.11 inches Wednesday, eclipsing the 1.22-inch mark for that date set back in 1979. Another 1 to 2 inches is forecast for Thursday and Friday, with wind gusts of 40 to 50 mph.

In such wet and windy weather, trees can be dangerous. They can drop limbs or uproot completely.

Years of drought have shrunk the root balls of many big trees, particularly coastal redwoods, making them especially vulnerable.

During these winter conditions, evergreens are at greatest risk. That includes redwood, pine, fir, spruce, juniper, cypress, yew and other trees that retain their foliage year round. Needles become saturated with rain, doubling or tripling their weight; that strains the branches and makes the whole tree top heavy. Foliage also is more apt to catch wind than bare branches.

Trees that grow close together offer each other support; their roots become intertwined and they hold each other up. Solitary lawn trees are more likely to fall.

So are trees that withered away during years of drought including elms, birches and other deciduous trees. Strong winds will knock dead or dying branches off trees of any kind.

What are the danger signs?

Some are obvious. The tree starts leaning; that’s not good. Cracks in the soil around the base of a tree may indicate root movement; that means it’s losing its stability.

Look up; are broken branches dangling above or caught in other branches? Are heavy limbs starting to droop down precariously? Are there signs of branches starting to separate at the trunk? Take photos and get help.

In these cases, call a certified arborist immediately. Rope off the area around the tree and stay off the surrounding soil until help comes. The tree may be stabilized before it actually falls.

For more advice on trees, contact the Sacramento Tree Foundation, www.sactree.com .

Comments

0 comments have been posted.

GENERAL GARDENING

An article about gardening.

Keywords:

deciduous trees gardening Sacramento arborist Sacramento Tree Foundation evergreens tree damage rain

Newsletter Subscription

Sacramento Digs Gardening to your inbox.

Taste Spring! E-cookbook

Find our spring recipes here!

Local News

Thanks to our sponsor!

Sites We Like

Garden Checklist for week of May 19

Temperatures will be a bit higher than normal in the afternoons this week. Take care of chores early in the day – then enjoy the afternoon. It’s time to smell the roses.

* Plant, plant, plant! It’s prime planting season in the Sacramento area. If you haven’t already, it’s time to set out those tomato transplants along with peppers and eggplants. Pinch off any flowers on new transplants to make them concentrate on establishing roots instead of setting premature fruit.

* Direct-seed melons, cucumbers, summer squash, corn, radishes, pumpkins and annual herbs such as basil.

* Harvest cabbage, lettuce, peas and green onions.

* In the flower garden, direct-seed sunflowers, cosmos, salvia, zinnias, marigolds, celosia and asters.

* Plant dahlia tubers. Other perennials to set out include verbena, coreopsis, coneflower and astilbe.

* Transplant petunias, marigolds and perennial flowers such as astilbe, columbine, coneflowers, coreopsis, dahlias, rudbeckia and verbena.

* Keep an eye out for slugs, snails, earwigs and aphids that want to dine on tender new growth.

* Feed summer bloomers with a balanced fertilizer.

* For continued bloom, cut off spent flowers on roses as well as other flowering plants.

* Don’t forget to water. Seedlings need moisture. Deep watering will help build strong roots and healthy plants.

* Add mulch to the garden to help keep that precious water from evaporating. Mulch also cuts down on weeds. But don’t let it mound around the stems or trunks of trees or shrubs. Leave about a 6-inch to 1-foot circle to avoid crown rot or other problems.

Taste Summer! E-cookbook

Find our summer recipes here!

Taste Fall! E-cookbook

Find our fall recipes here!

Taste Winter! E-cookbook

Find our winter recipes here!