Tree-age

Given the wacky weather we've been having and the toll it's taken on trees, you may be fearful that the big oak in your backyard could end up falling on your house during the next big thunderstorm.

No leaves in mid-summer.

Tree with damaged roots.

To help ensure the odds are in your favor, you need to stay on top of tree care. And because the pruning and removal of large trees is dangerous work, it’s likely you’ll need the help of a pro.

So what’s a homeowner to do? Start by determining if your prospective hire is certified as a New Jersey Tree Expert by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection or has an arborist certification from the International Society of Arboriculture (ISA). It’s also important to ask about to the company’s insurance policy.

Certifications alone, however, are not a guarantee of good work. The Rutgers Research and Cooperative Extension Service offers hints on hiring a tree-care expert.

Warning signs of potential trouble: companies that solicit business door-to-door or show up announced after a bad storm, seek advance payment for anything other than plant and landscape materials and offer discounts for quick decisions. Also stay clear of companies that use climbing spikes to work on live trees or prune more than 25 percent of a tree’s branches in any given year.
      
What do tree professionals look for?

They check the root area for damage (see picture) and also look for brown leaves at the top of an otherwise healthy-looking tree, a tell-tale sign of root damage, says Thomas D. Doty, forester for Millburn Township and president of the New Jersey chapter of the ISA.

Also on the list are broken limbs, and cracks, abnormal swelling and cavities in the tree truck. The best way to check for a rotting trunk, Doty says, is to use a resistograph — a high-tech drill with an EKG monitor that measures the resistance of the wood as the drill makes its way in. If a tree has no leaves in the lushness of mid-summer, like the one pictured, time to call in a tree removal service.

Homeowners can do their part, too, by taking care not to pile up a volcano of mulch around their trees. Doty says even landscapers are guilty of this practice, which causes roots to grow too close to the trunk and strangle the tree. Instead, mulch should be placed one to three inches away from the tree trunk.

“You want the roots to grow out – you don’t want it growing up around the tree itself,’’ Doty says.

The ISA’s educational website, Trees are Good, has a lot of information about trees and tree care.

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