Myth #1 – “Lots of Mulch is Good.”

TRUTH: Mulch is too thick when roots start growing into it. When this occurs, several continuous hot dry days can lead to root death. Start by applying 3 to 4 inches and inspect several times a year for root growth. Keep mulch at least 6 inches away from the trunk to reduce chances of rodent injury and infec-tion by pathogens. Excessive amounts may disrupt soil moisture and aeration.

Myth #2 – “Professionals Know Not to Plant Large-Maturing Trees Close to Buildings.”

TRUTH: They may know this is wrong, but it is done often. Blue spruce, paper birch, and many species of pines are used often for foundation plantings. The mature size of the tree seems to be forgotten at the time of planting. Too often the annuals are in the middle of the yard and the trees are against the house.

Myth #3 – “Fill Holes With Concrete, or Fill With Wound Dressing.”

TRUTH: Concrete or wound dressings lead to greater internal injury.

Myth #4 – “Ants Speed Up the Decay Process.”

TRUTH: Ants keep their galleries very clean and in doing so they slow the decay process. Ants live in the tree and eat elsewhere. Termites ―eat‖ in the tree and live elsewhere.

Myth #5 – “Topping Does Not Injure Trees.”

TRUTH: Topping not only injures wood in the crown, but roots are injured. And, topping leads to haz-ardous trees. Topping is a money wasting treatment illegal in some counties in some states because once started, it must be continued. Some species of trees can survive the treatment, while others quickly de-cline. Topping destroys a trees dignity.■

It‘s the clashing of hot and cold air that cause all the problems; that‘s why it‘s the spring and summer we should look out for, with only the occasional winter storm.‘ Speaking of which, there have only been a few in the last 20 years I’ve been in business, with only one being worth mentioning—the ice storm of 1994—what a nightmare!  It‘s the spring and summer months that 95% of our calls related to damaged trees and property come in— and four out of five trees that we go clean up and remove off a house, car, drive and/or yard were really not the storms fault anyway,they were problems waiting to happen.  That‘s right.  I go out and look at that beautiful tree split in half and think how sad it is that I didn’t get to see it before it fell apart. Given the opportunity, I could have informed the owner that with some cable bracing and/or proper pruning this tree would have been fine and the homeowner would still have a shade tree and the money; now they have neither.  A large portion of these lost trees are simple problems like a multi-stem trunk with sharply angled forks and most are reasonably easy to protect.In other cases, I see uprooted trees with mushrooms around the base and others with conks and/or cavities up the main frame and say to myself, ―how did it make it this long?  What I‘m encouraging is that you take a few minutes and walk through the yard and look at your trees; they don‘t have to have leaves to determine these most common problems. As a matter of fact, a fully foliated tree has no reflection on how safe it is.Look for the following: Sharp angled forks in the low and mid-area trunk section. This is our number one problem.  Mushrooms on the ground within 6 ft. of the base or on the trunk and stems. Old injuries anywhere on the tree – and of course if it hasn’t had any leaves on it in the last few growing seasons – this could be a problem too.  The structure is what counts.  Buttress rot, crotch-rot, and sharp angled forks are always bad news.  There are many other factors that play a role in inspections although these are the biggies.  Still yet, remember: anything that stands has the ability to fall.  There‘s no way to truly state that a tree will not fail under some unforeseen condition, although with an understanding of why they fail, it allows us to prevent many tree casualties. No need to wait until you get spring fever.  Do the ounce of prevention now during winter– it‘s better for you, the trees, and us.■

Most people I talk to have a fear of the awesome force we call lightning. When I visit homes with storm damage, lightning is blamed by the homeowner when in fact wind damages most trees during thunderstorms.

It is estimated that lighting strikes the Earth 9 million times a day -100 times per second. It is no wonder that trees can be damaged by lightning, but what is lightning anyway?

The electric charges that generate lightning are formed in large, very, very tall storm clouds. Negative charged particles collect at the base of the cloud. Since the Earth herself is positively charged the two forces fight to find a way to connect and cancel out by following the path of least resistance. Many times the tall tree out in the yard is that path of least resistance. An acting terminal if you will.

The voltage carried by a lightning strike averages 100 million volts and 500 amps. This is an awesome amount of energy! Trees are damaged because the living tissues of the tree serve as pathways for the surging energy. Moisture is instantly converted to steam which is why the bark of a struck tree appears to have been blown off.

Most serious is damage done to the root system as the charge grounds out.

Trees can be protected from lightning damage by installing lightning protection systems in them. Lightning protection systems do not attract lightning! I like to think of it as the ground (positive charges) is brought up to the top of the tree! The negative charges released from the storm are allowed to cancel out with the positive ones well above the tree leaving the tree out of it all.

Lighting systems are all copper – with air terminals connected to woven copper wire. The system is connected to grounding rods driven deep into the Earth to create a good ground. Trees which should be considered for lightning protection are those within 25 feet of a building, historic, rare and specimen trees.

Trees struck by lightning do not always die. They should be evaluated and monitored over time. Fertilization and watering are important. Insect pests such as ambrosia beetles must not be allowed to colonize these trees. Many trees will recover but could develop structural defects when exposed areas begin to decay. I have seen many a warrior Oak still standing tall and proud with old lighting stripes running down to the ground. ■

Larry Loiseau / Certified Arborist

NES tree pruning policy—My goodness . . what a stir up that group of people are in! We have lopsided, off balance, center sections and corners cut out of trees all over town and how unsightly they can look. I am writing this article in efforts to help with the understanding of how a tree operates.

First of all, understand that a tree is like a big corporation or company. The main stem of the tree is the core of the company and there are mass branches of employees under and above ground. The upper employees (leaves) support the underground force (roots) with starches and sugars. The roots give the leaves water and nutrients and the overspill of this symbiotic relationship is what the tree uses for cell division/growth and storage for hard times. Understanding that a great loss of employees from either side of this company will result in death of employees on the other end. This is why we see tops of trees decline after major root loss. We are unable to see the loss of workforce underground.

Hold that thought! The more leaves a tree loses the more roots underground die from starvation, thus putting stress on the whole company. Now, think back to the practice in which trees were trimmed here in Nashville ever since the first electric wire hit the top of a pole. They’d come in and real nicely round over the whole top of the tree stripping it of virtually every employee it had.

The type of trimming they used to do made trees more dangerous if they survived. That type of trimming practice also starts a whole downward spiral of: decaying wood, root loss, weakly attached limbs and several other situations that come back to haunt the tree and tree owner over time.

Had our trees been pruned under the new policy as they grew up, we would have a completely different view. It was not understood that topping was so wrong. Shaping and balancing to please the eye is the last concern of a tree. The tree is most concerned about how many employees it gets to keep as a result of our wanting lights, hot water, and a TV to watch.  Change is hard for all of us, although I’m sure glad our medical doctors have adapted to new methods over the last 50 years. It would scare me to death if my doctor didn’t change practice according to new technology and education in the field of medicine.■

Ruel Jones