How to Prepare Trees for Summer Storms

Kyle Mack, district manager of Davey's Arborguard, a Davey company, Atlanta office, shares how to spot storm risks in your trees, as well as best practices to prevent summer storm damage.  

In this episode we cover: 

• What to look for on a property when summer storms are coming (0:41)
• Fungal bodies at the bottom of your tree (2:05)
• Storm season in Atlanta (2:32)
• Get a tree checkup every six months (3:05)
• What arborists do to inspect a property (4:45)
• Don't over elevate your trees (7:33)
• Dead branch tips and broken limbs (9:49)
• Construction nearby can damage roots (10:50)
• How soon do people call for help on their trees? (11:54)
• Which trees are more prone to storm damage? (12:45)
• How do arborists prepare when a storm is coming? (14:05)
• How Kyle came into his horticulture and arboriculture career (16:24)

To find your local Davey office, check out our find a local office page to search by zip code.

To read our summer storm blogs to prevent storm damage to your trees, visit Blog.Davey.com by clicking here - Tree Care Tips, News & Checklists 

Connect with Davey Tree on social media:
Twitter: @DaveyTree
Facebook: @DaveyTree
Instagram: @daveytree
YouTube: The Davey Tree Expert Company
LinkedIn: The Davey Tree Expert Company 

Connect with Doug Oster at www.dougoster.com. 

Have topics you'd like us to cover on the podcast? Email us at podcasts@davey.com. We want to hear from you!

Transcript

Doug Oster: Welcome to the Davey Tree Expert Company's podcast, Talking Trees. I'm your host, Doug Oster. Each week, our expert arborists share advice on seasonal tree care, how to make your trees thrive, arborists' favorite trees, and much more. Tune in every Thursday to learn more because here at the Talking Trees podcast, we know trees are the answer.

This week, I'm joined by Kyle Mack. He's a District Manager at Arbor Guard Tree Services, a Davey company in Atlanta, Georgia. Today, we're talking all about how to prepare trees for summer storms. Kyle, how are you today?

Kyle Mack: I'm doing well, Doug. Thank you for having me.

Doug: Thanks for being on the show. Summer storms, what's the first thing that comes to mind for you if you're going to a property and you know it's going to happen, summer storms are coming. What are you looking for?

Kyle: There's a number of things. Really, I like to look starting at the root system and the soil conditions. Typically, in summer storms, we have high winds and that tends to cause trees to blow over. We got wind throw. As well as starting to look in the upper canopy and hazardous dead limbs that are present that have a target, branch structure, things of that nature.

Doug: What kind of stuff can you see at the bottom of the tree that would alert you to, oh, this could be a problem?

Kyle: One, I'm looking at soil conditions in general. Here in Atlanta, we have a lot of southern red clay in an urban environment, which leads to a lot of compaction. We tend to have a lot of surface rooting that goes on. Because of the compaction. As well as we're looking for dead or diseased roots or any fungal fruiting bodies that are growing around the base of the tree can be indications of root rot as well.

Doug: Let's talk a little bit about that. If you see mushrooms and other things popping up on the bottom of your tree, that's a bad thing, right?

Kyle: In most cases, it can be, yes. It depends on what it is. There's a lot of species of mushrooms out there, but when we're looking at species of mushrooms that cause root decay, that's when the concern is red flag.

Doug: What's the storm season for you in Atlanta?

Kyle: We're coming up on it. We're seeing it pretty regularly now. Really, it's mid-May through the summer months. It starts to die down as we get a little closer to fall.

Doug: Boy, Kyle, we had one come through here. I'm in Pittsburgh, and it was only a 10-minute burst. I had 200-year-old oaks uprooted. Again, I've got an arborist on my property every six months. I had lost a big cherry, a big cedar. These trees looked fine to the arborist, but I guess you just never know, right?

Kyle: Yes. What I like that you said, Doug, is that you have an arborist on your property every six months. That's what we try to do here at Arbor Guard for our clientele, is that we're trying to get out on their property on a preventative and proactive basis. That way, we can try and stay ahead of some of these issues. Really, that's a major component in storm preparation.

Doug: I think what's interesting is you're always bringing an arborist out for a certain problem, but the arborist isn't just looking at that one thing. You're looking over the entire property, every tree. Thank goodness, Kyle, I can't tell you [chuckles] how many times the day the arborist has come and saw something. In one case, it was a tree that was going to fall on my garage. I'm hosting the Talking Trees podcast, Kyle. I'm supposed to know better. I walk by that tree every day.

I remember a couple years ago seeing something growing on the bottom, but I didn't pay any attention to it. Then by the time he came, it was basically hollow. He was running to the phone to get somebody out there to cut this tree down. Talk a little bit about going to a property and all the things that you do when you're checking the trees out.

Kyle: Sure. Again, back to the soil conditions. I'm always going to be looking at the severity of compaction, as well as looking for any type of changes that may have occurred, potentially through construction or development or installing a new driveway. Putting up a retaining wall, things that may have impacted the root system in some way, whether it be cutting the roots or using heavy equipment around over a root system that can cause damage underground that we're not going to be able to see. Then, we start to get that root rot or dead root, which compromises the stability.

Other things that I look for as well is what's the age of the tree. A lot of times we have a lot of new developments around Atlanta and we see that people over elevate young trees too quickly, so we don't allow for that proper development of the trunk taper and the stability of the root system. That's an indicator that we might have an issue with wind throw, trees that are just elevated too high.

Also, what's the mulching practices and what are the planting beds looking like and things of that nature? In so many cases, we see volcano mulching that happens, which is a very poor practice, but that covers up the trunk flare. We need that area for oxygen exchange, so that can expedite trunk rot in the lower trunk.

All those things are all on the ground level. Then you start to look up the tree. What's the trunk? Do we have cavities? Do we have insects? Things of that nature. Then, looking into the canopy, what's the branching structure of the tree? Do we have good solid attachment points? For the main scaffold limbs? Then do we also have dead, dying, or diseased limbs within the upper canopy that are hazardous?

Doug: Kyle, listeners have to be tired of hearing about volcano mulch. I swear we talk about it almost every show. It comes up because it's a countrywide terrible thing. I wanted to go to the over elevation. What's that all about with trees? Why are people doing that? Talk about why that is so wrong.

Kyle: There's a number of different reasons why people want to elevate trees. One of the most common that we hear is, "Oh, we want to get more sunlight down to our turf." I actually came from the turf industry back in my horticulture days. I can just tell you that trees and turf don't mix. They don't get along too well. It's very difficult for somebody that has turf so close to the trunk, especially for canopy species trees, to allow that tree to develop and still maintain adequate turf underneath the canopy. It's very challenging. That's one of the reasons people want to try to get more sunlight to their understory plant material.

Another thing is just sightline visibility, which I can understand. It's a security aspect of it. When trees are initially planted, they need time to develop that trunk taper that I'd mentioned, so that they can develop a solid root system. By allowing those lower limbs to develop and harden off a little bit, it helps promote that energy into the root system and also reduces the stress that these young trees are going through because they're allowed to retain a little bit more foliage throughout the canopy.

Doug: I always tell people the best thing to grow under a tree is a bench.

Kyle: That's right. My recommendation for them is expand your planting beds whenever you can. That's the ideal situation. You want to try and keep your planting area, your planting bed, relatively about the size of the drip line of the tree in most cases.

Doug: When you are looking up, certainly you see dead limbs and such, that's going to be a red flag. How about tip die-off and that sort of thing when the plant is doing that, is that something before a storm that we should be concerned with, or are we thinking more about those dead limbs up above?

Kyle: That's a concern in general when we start seeing tip dieback. I wouldn't necessarily put it in a major storm precaution, but that's a general indication that the tree is stressed, could have root issues, could have soil issues, may have insects or disease. All those things are going to lead to tree stress. When trees are stressed, they're in slow decline, which, for a number of reasons, can add to potential storm situations.

Doug: One thing I wanted to jump back on, which I thought was interesting, is that a homeowner doesn't usually think of when there's a construction project going on, the damage that could happen when big machinery is running over those roots. That's, again, another reason to have a certified arborist come on the property. That's what you're thinking about right off the bat when you're looking at that and seeing, oh, my gosh, it must have been a bulldozer running over the roots of that pine tree.

Kyle: Yes, you're exactly right. We're not going to typically see that decline right away. It could take a few years. Then , our homeowners are, "Why is this tree in decline?" I installed a new retaining wall or I put in a patio in my backyard, and I had an excavator running back and forth over the root system of this tree. Yes, we may not see that decline right away.

Doug: Do you often get a call in advance? Do people think in advance and say, "Ooh, you better have Kyle or his team come out before I start this project because I want to make sure that my trees are going to be okay," or most of the time you're going afterwards and saying, "Oh, my gosh?"

Kyle: It's both cases for us here at ArborGard. We're fortunate that we actually have a construction and development team that works with developers and municipalities on the front end of those projects. But on the commercial maintenance and residential maintenance aspect, it's normally in hindsight. Tree looks fine to the homeowner, but then a few years later, they start seeing it declining and they're like, "Why?" Then, they give us a call and we go out and we notice that they put in a new driveway, or put in a retaining wall, or something of that nature.

Doug: Are there certain trees in your area in general by species that are more prone to have storm damage or to be blown over, maybe shallow rooted, or could it be any tree.

Kyle: In reality, any tree has potential to be affected by a storm. We do see more of our softwoods like tulip poplars, those trees have more upper canopy failure or branch failure. Oaks, we see a lot of uprooted oaks, though, around our area as well. The challenge with trees in our urban environment is we're putting species of trees in areas that just aren't adequate size for that species. That stems all the way back to tree selection for our areas. When their root systems are restricted and they don't have the ability to branch out, and develop a really strong tree, strong root system, however the canopy is going to still be its normal size, then we have an unbalance to the tree.

Doug: What is it like for you when you're sitting at home and the weather guy comes on and he says, "Oh, look at this. This is bad. This is coming." Do you just either have to wait it out, or are you calling people in advance? How do you determine if, oh my gosh, we better get ready? You've been doing this for a long time. What's the procedure when you can't do something?

Kyle: We try to get as ready as possible. We're talking with the crews and telling everybody that we need to be prepared. You don't know the severity until after the storm has gone through. We want to make sure that as we go out and we try to help and service our clients, that we're not putting any of our people potentially in risk. We got to make sure that things are calmed down to the point where we can actually go out and assess the situation. There's a little bit of reactiveness to it depending on the severity of the storm and the location.

Doug: When it's coming, are you telling people like, Well, you're not going to see me for a couple days because this looks bad and I'm going to have to be on the road telling everybody what to do"?

Kyle: Here at ArborGard for us, we don't tend to get too many storm calls from our clients because again, our clients take a proactive approach to their tree care. When your trees are in good shape, storms don't affect them as much. We normally get storm calls from non-clients. Then, we have to go out and assess the situation, see what equipment's needed. How many personnel are we going to need? Then, if they're accepting to what we're telling them, then we go out and do the work.

Doug: That's a good way to do it. I like that idea. Like, "Hey, if you're part of us, we'll take a look and we're going to keep you safe." That's awesome. For you, tell me a little bit about your journey into this job. How did you get there and why is it right for you?

Kyle: I've been in the green industry for over 30 years. Initially studying horticulture, then got into turfgrass before I came back here to Atlanta from the West Coast and started working at the Atlanta Botanical Gardens as a horticulturist there, and then ultimately came on to ArborGard a little over a decade ago.

Doug: Let's talk a little bit about the relationship that you build with clients, people that you're seeing year after year.

Kyle: We are a heavily commercial tree care company here in Atlanta. What we do is we are working with property management companies and building owners that may have multiple properties. We try to nurture and develop those relationships on the management front. We do that through various ways, events. Lunch and learns are a big aspect of what we're trying to do for our management companies, and things of that nature to help educate larger populations of what proper tree care is. On the residential side, it's really about just getting back in touch with people.

Doug: I'm glad you're working with those commercial clients because most of the time, they're the worst ones with the volcano mulch.

Kyle: Yes, that's true.

Doug: Kyle, thanks so much for all the great information and your time today. We'll talk to you again soon.

Kyle: All right. Thank you, Doug.

Doug: Fellow tree lovers, we need you to tune in every Thursday to the Talking Trees podcast from the Davey Tree Expert Company, I am your host, Doug Oster. Do me a big favor. Subscribe so that you'll never miss a show. Do you have a question for an arborist? I would love to do a whole show featuring your questions. If you've got one, you can send it to us via email to podcasts@davey.com. That's P-O-D-C-A-S-T-S@D-A-V-E-Y.com. Or you can click the link at the end of our show notes to text us a fan mail message. Your questions could be on a future podcast. We'd love to hear from you.

As always, we'd like to remind you on the Talking Trees podcast, trees are the answer.

[00:19:08] [END OF AUDIO]