This winter has been relentless with it’s freezing temperatures and heavy snowfall in much of the country and as a result many homeowners and business owners have struggled to protect their home from severe, costly damages. However, many homeowners don’t realize that the part of their property that can be most harmed by these conditions are the trees which surround the home. Your trees endure a huge amount of pressure from snow and ice build-up and if this pressure isn't removed quickly or safely anything from growth stunting to the snapping of branches and death of the tree could occur. To save your trees (and your home) from these problems you should keep a few things in mind before hiring professional tree snow removal contractors or beginning the work yourself.
Snow Removal
For most of the country right now snow-covered trees are everywhere you look and the weight of all that heavy snow can put serious strain on your tree branches, particularly if your landscape is adorned with brittle, weak-branched species like elm, poplar, and maple. In order to safely shake your trees branches free of snow accumulation you can use long-handled brooms to gently brush at the underside of the branches starting as high as possible on the tree. Be sure not to shake the branches up and down or to use too much force to remove this snow since they will be naturally weakened at this point and will be much more prone to breaking. Furthermore, don’t expect this to remove all the snow from your tree. Instead focus on removing the worst of the weight and avoid causing an excess damage to the tree.
Ice Removal
While snow can put a lot of weight on your trees, experts are quick to point out that ice build-up can actually be much more damaging to the health and safety of your home’s landscape. Never is this more true than when ice is allowed to cling to your branches and winter’s howling winds put them at even more of a threat. The University of Georgia advises homeowners who have trees which are deeply frozen in highly windy areas to use a hose connected to a hot water faucet to melt some of the ice accumulation before winter winds reach their strongest. When done properly this can melt thick layers of ice build-up and allow for the trees to better defend themselves against the pressures of the season. If, however, your home’s trees do suffer from major damage this winter you can always contact professional arborists to help ensure that your home’s beauty and safety is still maintained when spring finally comes.
