Tree Support Systems

Tree Surgeon has become an antiquated term in the tree industry, but it accurately describes the care modern arborists give to trees.  Careful and accurate cuts into the live wood, diagnosing disease to make sure trees get the proper remedy, and even drilling through the tree to add metal hardware.  The science of tree care has come a long way, and some black and white photos in Wachtel’s office show the early methods of tree surgery, including adding cement to large tree cavities.   While we don’t add rigid cavity filling into trees anymore, we do maintain some of the proven methods that were pioneered by the original tree surgeons: cabling, bracing, guying, and propping 

Cabling involves the installation of a high strength steel cable high in the tree’s crown, attaching two or more separate stems together effectively reducing the likelihood they will split apart at their union.  This can be done for ornamental trees on a smaller scale as well.  When the union has an advanced defect or crack, bracing is added for structural support in the lower portion of the tree.  This is done by drilling through the trunk and installing a threaded rod through the split, adding support for this part of the tree.   This added support can add countless years of useful life in the landscape by reducing risk and giving our clients an alternative to removing high value trees.   

Guying is a less common support system but proved to be helpful after some of our recent snowstorms.  This involves adding a support cable or strap from a strong and healthy tree over to the tree in need.  This is especially useful for saving evergreens like Arborvitae that tend to split apart from snow weight.  If one individual branch is being affected by weight and needs some support from below, propping can be utilized.  This method involves the creative use of wood or metal support systems below the branch to take the strain off the trunk and reduce the likelihood of failure. 

Recent years have brought severe weather events ranging from ice storms to tornadoes, and with that comes major tree failure.  Many of these failures occur at common tree defects that could have been avoided with the identification of the defect and installation of the proper support system.  Wachtel Tree Science’s Certified Arborists are experts at diagnosing and mitigating these risks, so please contact us if you have a tree in question. 

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