How To Tell When Trees Need To Go

In this article, we will learn a few common signs that will help you identify potential hazards and defects in the trees around your home or on your farm. This is extremely important, as trees can be very dangerous if they are at risk of falling or dropping branches. While every tree has the potential to fall or drop branches, ensuring your trees are in good health and good condition will prevent a tree disaster and ensure your beautiful trees are an asset, rather than a liability. Having said that, it’s always a good idea to have your large trees checked routinely by an arborist, to ensure you haven’t missed anything. In the meantime, answer these questions to assess the risk your trees pose:

• Can you identify any large, dead branches within your tree? Dead branches do not have live foliage and can look dry and grey; however, they can be difficult to spot, so contact us for an assessment if you’re not sure.
• Can you see any detached branches within your tree? If so, these should be moved immediately, unless they’re quite small.
• Can you spot any rotten wood or cavities within the tree’s trunk or on large branches?
• Can you see splits or cracks anywhere in your tree?
• Have you had fallen branches in the past from your tree?
• Can you see any mushrooms growing on the base of your tree?
• Have trees located nearby fallen over or died in the past?
• Have nearby trees been removed in the past? If so, why?
• Is the trunk of your tree leaning significantly?
• Are the major branches on your tree growing disproportionately from one side or the other? Or from one location?
• Have the leaves of your tree suddenly changed colour, texture or developed a disease that’s not due to seasonal changes?
• Have the tree’s roots been damaged or unsettled by anything (I.e, paving, erosion, building foundations etc)?
• Has the integrity of the plot your tree is located on changed recently (I.e., from construction, lawn installation or removal, digging etc)?
• Has your tree been over pruned or topped?
• Have you recently experienced flooding?
• Are your tree’s branches growing close to (or touching) utility lines? If so, don’t ever try to address this problem yourself.

If you’ve answered yes to one or more of these questions, you may have a hazardous tree situation that will need to be addressed as soon as possible. Some of these issues can be addressed by you, but most will require the services of a good arborist – such as Brisbane Treeworx – who will either repair the problem or remove your tree and stump for you.

 We're available for all types of tree lopping and tree removal in Brisbane, 7 days a week, and available outside business hours. 

How To Maintain Trees Around Your Home & Why – Part 2

Continuing on from our article, ‘How To Maintain Trees Around Your Home & Why – Part 1’, here’s part 2.

Pruning Tips

Tree pruning is essential to keep your trees healthy, looking great and safe by preventing dropping branches. If you’re going to DIY, it’s important to use common sense and the right tools to keep yourself safe from harm. We recommend you wear gloves and avoid climbing trees or ladders in order to cut down branches. You’re better off leaving the dangerous work to us!

• Always try to prune your trees during their dormant season (generally over winter), as this will reduce the stress on the trees. If the branch you want to trim is less than 5cm in diameter, you can trim it with no worries; however, if it is any larger, you should only ever proceed if you absolutely have to. This is both for safety reasons and because removing large branches could potentially harm your tree.

• When pruning, don’t leave a large stump or cut too close to the trunk or branch you’re cutting from.

• If the branch you want to remove has a strong U-shaped angle, it’s best to leave it intact, unless it poses a hazard. Branches with weak V-shaped angles should be removed.

• Try to prune when branches are young, as they are much easier to manage when small and supple.

• A branch will usually have a branch collar (a ridge on the underside of the branch, where it attaches to the stem) and a branch ridge (on the upper-side of the branch). When removing a branch, you should always make your cut outside the ridge and angle your cut downwards, away from the stem. Try not to injure the branch collar.

• Both dead and living branches can be pruned in the same manner.

• For long stems, use multiple cuts to manage the length so as not to cause a hazardous situation by having a big, heavy branch falling.

Pruning Techniques

Crown Thinning – After pruning, you should have a ratio of living crown to tree height of two-thirds – you should never remove an amount of living crown greater than one-fourth at a time. If you need to remove more than this, do it over a couple of seasons, rather than in one hit. Lateral branches should be spaced evenly and this is even more important on young trees. 

Crown Raising – If you need to create space under a tree’s branches for pedestrian traffic, a fence or similar, you’ll have to be very careful not to be too aggressive, as this may prevent a tree from being able to develop a strong stem. At least two-thirds of the tree’s height should have live branches kept.

Crown Reduction – It can be harmful to shorten the height of a tree, so this should only happen if completely necessary. When pruning lateral branches, make sure they are at least one-third the diameter of the stem. If you’re finding you want to remove more than half of the existing foliage from a branch, it’s better to just remove the entire branch.

For everything else, contact us and receive great rates on your tree pruning needs! We're available for all types of tree lopping and tree removal in Brisbane, 7 days a week, and available outside business hours. 

Brisbane Treeworx

Brisbane Treeworx

Level 1, Suite 332, 241 Adelaide Street
Brisbane, Queensland, 4000

61 400 249 099

We offer a wide range of tree services at affordable prices. We will visit your home or business at a convenient time for you and conduct a free no-obligation quote. If there is clear access to your trees, you don't even need to be there! We are happy to discuss options and pricing to suit your needs.   

http://www.brisbanetreeworx.com.au

How To Maintain Trees Around Your Home & Why – Part 1

Most Aussie yards have an abundance of trees, but living in an area like Brisbane, you may also find that they require a lot of work to maintain and keep safe. The great news is, you can do most of this yourself with a little know-how. For anything you can’t do yourself though, give us a call and we will happily tend to all your tree removal or trimming needs.

General Maintenance

Obviously, if you’re living in South East Queensland, you’ll understand the need to regularly water your plants. Trees are a little different though, as you can't just give them a quick soak and be done with it. Tree roots aren’t particularly deep, but they are deep enough to require a slow, long watering. Also, because tree roots extend out from the tree at a length equal to or up to twice as long as the height of the tree, you’ll need to estimate this and water them away from the trunk.

To conserve water (which is prudent in our area), do most of your watering in the afternoon so the heat of the day doesn’t evaporate it. Mulch your trees to keep the moisture in the soil and use grey water (water collected from the bath, shower, washing machine etc and re-used) whenever you can – just be sure it doesn’t contain detergents or other chemicals. Your best bet though is to plant natives that don’t require much water.

Reasons For Pruning

There are a few reasons for pruning, and these are:

Safety – Not only are falling branches anger out, they can be lethal in some cases! You should do regular checks of your big trees to ensure none of their branches are dead or unstable. As a very general rule, if you notice a branch has gone grey and dry, has stopped growing foliage or has started dropping many smaller branches off it, it’s likely dead and will need to be removed. If you notice any branches that have cracked or are hanging by only their bark, they are damaged and will need to be removed. If you’re not sure, please have your tree checked professionally, as dead and unstable branches are often hard to spot. It’s also I,portent to have branches trimmed if they are obstructing your view when you enter or exit your driveway or if they are impinging on utility lines. In the latter case, NEVER attempt to trim these yourself.

Beauty – A pruned tree is a beautiful tree; however, you need to be very careful to prune in a way that will emphasise your trees aesthetics and health. Don’t try to prune into an unnatural shape, or over-prune, as this could seriously damage your lovely tree.

Health – Trees really do love a good prune and doing so increases their health by promoting good airflow and encouraging regrowth. When we say a ‘good’ prune though, we mean it. A ‘bad’ prune can harm or even kill your trees, so it’s important to get it right.  

Please continue at ‘How To Maintain Trees Around Your Home & Why – Part 2’ for more great tips and techniques.

We're available for all types of tree lopping and tree removal in Brisbane, 7 days a week, and available outside business hours.