Situational Awareness

Written by: Tony Arnoldi, Board Certified Master Arborist WI-0102B

Posted: 2024 | Plant Health Care | Tree and Shrub Care | Tree and Shrub Pruning | Winter

Situational awareness is a term often used in the military or security forces. It describes the need to be aware of hidden or potential dangers when entering a location, to know all possible entrances and exits that an enemy may come from, and to plan for exit contingencies.

This mindset can be very useful when appraising our landscapes too, especially after the long year that was 2023! You may recall that March had two separate storms that deposited record  amounts of heavy, wet snow. This happened area-wide but was greatly enhanced by lake-effect snow in com munities closer to Lake Michigan. These two rounds of heavy, wet snow caused a lot of tree damage at the time. Many different species were affected but it was especially hard on trees with large horizonal limbs. Trees, such as older specimens of honeylocust and Austrian pine, were hit the hardest. Many weeks, and even months, of extra work repairing this damage or removing trees that were ruined dominated our spring.

As spring lengthened into summer, the predictable storm season began. As wave after wave of thunderstorms hit, trees were damaged again and again. What was different than any typical year, is that more very large limbs came down or were broken over and caught by other limbs in the canopy, or fell striking dwellings or other structures. After reviewing the trees, the limbs affected had large horizontal cracks, larger and longer than what would have been expected after measuring the strength of the storm. Subsequent storms repeated this trend.

Over the course of the summer, I would look up during my diagnostic visits and notice many pre-existing cracks in large horizontal limbs. A lot of these were several years old, as evidenced by the callous or “healing wood” that had formed along the edges of the split. But now, the crack extended well beyond where old healing had taken place. The split branch had remained stable for
some years where the crack had not lengthened. But now the cracking had resumed because of the great weight of the snows, and now extended a little further with each storm until eventual failure occurred.

Now, in winter, with the leaves off the trees, a large amount of the weight is off the tree, plus the reduced surface area does not catch the wind to the same extent. Subsequently, the reports of storm damage have greatly diminished (but not stopped) and things are looking stable again. Here is where situational awareness comes into play. These cracked limbs are much easier to spot while the leaves are off and the whole branch structure is laid bare. Even non-arborists (such as some homeowners) have spotted trouble up in the tree canopies.

If the tree has not been pruned in a while, it may be a very good time to have an arborist climb through the crown, pruning to improve health and structure (often called crown cleaning), and in so doing, hidden cracks are exposed (many times the crack in a branch is only visible when some weight is applied, and the crack spreads open).

Situational awareness of the dangers above is important. Call your experienced Wachtel Tree Science Certified Arborist to help you gain this intelligence.

Related Newsletters

Can Trees Die if You Don’t Prune Them?

Each year I field a number of questions from clients. One common question that I am asked is, “Can my tree die if I don’t have it pruned?” Technically it can.

Proper Tree Pruning: Getting the Most Out of Your Investment

Pruning trees within the first few years of planting them is a critical first step. Early pruning removes problematic branches and corrects branches when they are small (less than 1’’ in diameter). This reduces the size of the pruning wounds, which promotes the tree’s ability to seal over.

Are your Evergreen Trees Stressed?

One of the largest stresses for trees is drought conditions that make trees more susceptible to attack by insects.

A Guide to Seasonal Tree Maintenance

Our comprehensive guide to tree maintenance will walk you through the best time for a tree treatment, when to prune a tree, and more to keep your trees healthy.