Trees provide significant benefits to our homes and cities, but when trees fall and injure people or damage property, they become liabilities. Taking care of tree hazards makes your property safer and prolongs the life of the tree.

Trees are an important part of our world. They offer a wide range of benefits to the environment and provide tremendous beauty.

However, trees may be dangerous. Trees or parts of trees may fall and cause injury to people or damage to property. We call trees in such situations hazardous, to signify the risk involved with their presence. While every tree has the potential to fall, only a small number actually hit something or someone.

It is your responsibility as a property owner to provide for the safety of trees on your property. Our tree hazard assessment service will identify hazardous trees and the risk they present. Once the hazard is recognized, steps may be taken to reduce the likelihood of the tree falling and injuring someone.

Our extensive Tree Hazard Service looks for these common issues:

• Large dead branches in the tree
• Detached branches hanging in the tree
• Cavities or rotten wood along the trunk or in major branches
• Mushrooms present at the base of the tree
• Cracks or splits in the trunk or where branches are attached
• Fallen branches from the tree
• Dead or fallen adjacent trees
• Strong trunk lean
• Major branches rising from a single point on the trunk
• Roots which have been broken off, injured, or damaged by lowering the soil level, installing pavement, repairing sidewalks, or digging trenches
• Recent site modification by construction, raising the soil level, or installing lawns
• Premature leaf discoloration or change in size
• Removal of trees from adjacent wooded areas
• Tree topping or over pruning

In addition to the above, our service also looks for common issues associated with trees in an urban environment:

• regrowth from topping, line clearance, or other pruning
• electrical lines adjacent to tree
• broken or partially attached branch
• open cavity in trunk or branch
• dead or dying branches
• branches arising from a single point on the trunk
• decay and rot present in old wounds
• recent change in grade or soil level, or other construction

Additionally our service also looks for issues common to trees in a rural environment:

• recent site construction, grading and tree removal, clearing of forests for development
• previous tree failures in the local area
• tree leaning near a target
• forked trunk; branches and stems equal in size
• wet areas with shallow soil

Tree Works can help you manage the trees on your property and can provide treatments that can make your tree safer, reducing the risk associated with hazardous trees. We are familiar with hazard tree evaluation and may suggest one or more of the following if a problem is discovered:

• Remove the potential target. While a home or a nearby power line cannot be moved, it is possible to move picnic tables, cars, landscape features, or other possible targets to prevent them from being hit by a falling tree.
• Prune the tree. Remove the defective branches of the tree.
• Cable and brace the tree. Provide physical support for weak branches and stems to increase their strength and stability.
• Provide routine care. Mature trees need routine care in the form of water, fertilizer (in some cases), mulch, and pruning as dictated by the season and their structure.
• Remove the tree. Some hazardous trees are best removed. If possible, plant a new tree in an appropriate place as a replacement.

Recognizing and reducing tree hazards not only increases the safety of your property and that of your neighbors but also improve the tree’s health and may increase its longevity!