During Hurricane Jeanne, an errant tree limb pierced the windshield of my car, an event that made me feel both angry and humble at the same time, since - with the exception of a few power outages - my life remained unscathed after a month of hurricane madness.
Still, it got me thinking about trees and storms, something Steve Graham knows a lot about. For weeks, the veteran city of Tampa forester has fielded a flood of questions from area homeowners worried about property damage or power outages caused by toppled trees.
Usually his job involves planting and maintaining trees and overseeing tree education programs. Rarely does he see so many people happy to chop all their trees down.
"Trees are usually innocuous and good and provide shade when it's hot; they're usually well below our radar," Graham says. "But when we have a hurricane, people start reacting to them coming down, and certainly a lot have come down lately."
Some trees that fell during the most recent storm had failing root systems in already-saturated soil, Graham explains, while others lost their branches because of poor pruning.
Of course, some people don't bother to trim their trees at all. Others get too exuberant with the pruning shears, which is also a mistake if a tree is going to weather 90 mph gusts like a cowboy.
"Trees need a certain percentage of their canopy to sustain growth, and (as) defense mechanisms," he says. "Trimming more than 25 percent is too much because it exposes a tree to wind turbulence and cause it to fail."
Though you may be tempted, don't dig out the chain saw just yet. What many people don't know is that a strong, healthy tree between you and your house provides an ideal buffer in a powerful storm. Trimming a tree properly is critical: Sixty percent of a tree's height should be in its canopy. When too many branches are removed from underneath, high winds can create an "air foil," causing the tree to snap.
Graham recommends that homeowners have their trees examined annually by a certified arborist. There are about 20 or so in the Tampa area.
"Long before a tree starts failing there are signs," he says. "And there are a lot of steps that can be taken to keep a tree in good shape."
Trees within 10 feet of power, phone or cable lines usually require the services of a utility arborist. When planting new trees, he recommends planting at least 20 feet away from your house.
"And that applies to good trees," Graham says. "Some types of trees you don't want 20, 30 or 40 feet from a structure."
It's best to avoid "weak wood" trees like elm, red cedar and sugarberry. Laurel oaks planted by the Works Progress Administration during the Depression caused a lot of damage in Tampa in recent weeks.
Good planting choices, he says, include durable and resilient palms, hickory, sweet gum, and believe it or not, live oak.
"Live oaks have proven themselves in storm after storm," Graham says. "Their limb attachment is strong, and they're not prone to decay."
He also advises that when planting trees around utility wires, select species that don't become too large at maturity or need a lot of pruning.
The city is revising its manual on how trees should be planted and pruned. But with another month and a half of hurricane season to go, use common sense. And if you live with a yard full of trees, get thee to an arborist.
Pronto.
As for my windshield, it's fixed, thanks to an efficient glass company that sent a technician out the day I called. This much I know: I'm not parking anywhere near a tree again, even if it's a bonsai.
