Rescuing Storm Damaged Trees

Well, it's a good thing we got those apples picked when we did.  A few days later, we had our first snow of the season.  October 4 is early for snow, even for us.  And an early October snow in a year where spring came very late and summer even later, well, it just didn't feel too good. 

Snows that come very early or very late in the season tend to be very heavy, wet snows.  Both are problematic for power lines and other standing structures, but the early fall snows are pretty devastating to trees.  And this one was no exception.  In fact, you'll hear most people say this is the worst, most destructive early season snow we've ever had. 

In the grand scheme of things, with tens of thousands of dead cattle and unharvested sunflower and corn fields broken down to the ground, our damage doesn't seem that significant.  But, to a gardener who has worked 20 years to get a nice stand of trees and a fine fruit orchard started in the Burleigh Country desert, the aftermath of this storm is heartbreaking.  Trees still tend to be fully leafed out this time of year, so all the heavy snow gets caught in the limbs, adding more and more weight until branches, and sometimes the entire tree snaps off. 

I knew we were in trouble when the closer I got to home, the harder and heavier the snow was coming down.  Then I turned in the driveway and realized it had disappeared under fallen trees.  The beautiful arching elm trees that framed the driveway were no more.  I found Gene in the orchard, trying to knock the heaviest part of the snow off the tree limbs.  His efforts saved many of the trees, but he had to quit when our largest plum tree split the trunk into three pieces, to within about a foot of the ground, and large limbs began falling everywhere.


We went inside and listened to the popping, cracking and crashing as more trees came down.  The next day, the final count was seven elm trees completely broken off within about a foot of the ground, along with a plum, pear and apple tree.  Half a dozen more elms, a couple apple trees, another plum, my Prairie willow, and several viburnum shrubs badly damaged and a ton of clean-up work that will need to be done before winter sets in - it was enough to make me cry. 


But, gardening and storm clean-up doesn't get done with tears, so as soon as we determined it was safe to be out walking amongst the remaining trees, we had to start the process of clean-up.  We don't have any overhead power lines on our property, so we didn't have to worry about downed lines, but when trees come down, that is always the first thing to be aware of when going out to survey the damage. 

Any large branches that are completely broken off but are still hanging amongst other branches will need to be removed first to eliminate the danger of them coming down on top of us.  Then we can work on branches that are broken and are likely to break off with any additional pressure.  We'll take these off by first making a partial cut from the bottom of the branch to keep it from tearing more bark off the trunk if it continues to break.  Then we'll cut from the top, a few inches further out on the branch than the one on the bottom, and finish cutting the branch off just outside the raised area where the branch meets the trunk, called the "branch collar".  If the original break is into the branch collar, we will smooth it out as best we can.  It's important to try to eliminate divets and "cups" that will hold snow and water or harbor insects.

We'll have some decisions to make - can this tree be saved or is it best to just remove it?  Many of the damaged trees were young, healthy trees and we hold out a little more hope for some of them.  The elms are old trees that will be harder to salvage.  The larger the limbs that are broken, the harder it will be for the tree to recover.  The larger the size of the wound from the broken branches in comparison to the size of the limb to which they were attached, the harder it will be for the wound to heal.  If the wound is 1/4 the size of the limb or smaller, the wound will likely heal over within a couple years.  If it is nearly half the size of the limb or trunk, it may be very difficult for it to heal before it falls victim to rot, diseases or insect infestations.  The bark of a tree is like our skin and when large pieces of it are disrupted, the tree is vulnerable to all kinds of infections and insect infestations. 

Any tree where the trunk is split is not likely to recover and is much more vulnerable to future damage from snow or wind.  If 50% or more of the crown (top) of the tree is badly damaged or destroyed, there is little hope that the tree will regain its vigor.  There may not be enough foliage left to support the photosynthesis necessary to sustain life.

If a tree is leaning, it generally means that the roots themselves were damaged or loosened.  These trees usually need to be removed because they won't survive well and are very susceptible to being completely pulled out of the ground in future storms.  One of my honeycrisp apple trees was leaning nearly to the ground.  This is a young tree, so we will try to save it by gently pulling it back to a straight, vertical position and staking it until the roots re-grow and stabilize it in the soil.  With young trees, sometimes you can foster new root growth.  With mature trees, this is not likely to work.

One of my plum trees lost its "leader" or the main upward growing branch.  We will trim the damaged area to create a smooth cut and over the next couple years, I will work to retrain another strong upward-trending branch to become the new leader.  This will require diligent trimming of weaker upward trending branches to keep the stronger one dominant in the upward growth.  After the new leader attains some size and strength, the other upward trending branches will assume their supporting role, and hopefully the tree will regain a nicer appearance and a strong form.

Trees should never be "topped", the process where all the top branches are cut back to stubs.  Professional arborists say that topping is the worst insult you can deal a tree.  Topped trees produce a lot of weak branches that are going to be even more prone to damage in storms.  Not to mention that they look incredibly ugly.  If a tree trimming service recommends "topping" trees or has a history of having done that, I would suggest you run them away from your trees as fast and as far as you can.

Hard as it may be, we will need to resist the urge to overprune.  We'll learn to live with trees whose appearance is less than perfect for a while.  Some of them may never look the same, but many will continue to grow, the bare spots from broken branches and limbs will be covered, and we will once again be able to look at our trees and say "oh what a beautiful sight".  And in the meantime, we'll relish those trees that braved and battled the storm to stay upright and whole.