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Keeping Your Trees Safe From Strong Storms Australian weather can be so volatile. One moment you're basking in the sun, and the next minute there's a ferocious thunderstorm surrounding your home. When we moved to our first property, we had a near-miss when part of a tree came down during a storm. Luckily, it missed our house, but it did flatten my gorgeous rose garden. Tree maintenance is very important in Australia, and my blog deals with all the different ways you can maintain the health of your trees. From pruning to identifying tree rot, find out how to look after your trees, so they don't come tumbling down when the winds pick up.

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Should You Have a Sick Tree Removed?

Is your tree sick? Then you might be wondering whether you should remove it now or leave it. Dying trees can steadily become dangerous as their structure weakens. But not all sick trees will eventually die. Just as humans can, a tree can fall sick and eventually recover.

If your tree is sick because of disease or pests, then the first thing you should do is hire an arborist to perform an assessment. Even without the help of an arborist's tree report, you can do your own assessment to determine whether you need to remove your sick tree or not.

Newly sick trees may not need immediate removal

When trees fall sick, you may not notice any symptoms for years. But if you do notice some minor symptoms, such as a single ailing branch, which has begun to lose leaves, immediate removal may not be necessary. Trees can recover from disease, so immediate removal might be too hasty an action unless you don't want to take the risk of your tree becoming dangerous.

Trees with contagious diseases are a risk to other trees

If you have more than one tree in your yard and one of those trees falls ill with a contagious disease, then you should consider the safety of your other healthy trees. One such disease is verticillium wilt disease, which attacks tree roots via the soil. This disease commonly attacks maples, elms, ash and catalpa trees, along with stone-fruit producing trees like plum trees.

To protect your other trees, if one of your trees contracts a contagious disease, immediate removal will prevent the spread of that disease.

Trees with weakened roots can be dangerous

Several types of root rot disease, such as black root rot can damage tree root systems and eventually kill affected trees. But before some affected trees die, their weakened root systems sprout mushrooms, which is an indication of serious infection. A tree with a sick root system may not be able to withstand strong winds. And heavy rain can erode the soil, further weakening roots.

If you notice your tree's roots have succumbed to disease, immediate removal may be necessary since trees with damaged root systems may eventually fall over in bad weather. And treating a mature tree with sick roots is extremely difficult since the root system is already well established.

Removal of dead branches may be a short-term solution

You can still keep a sick tree for several years before it becomes too dangerous to you and your property. But to ensure your safety, you can trim away dead branches so they don't fall in storms.

Sick trees can often survive for several years. But don't take chances if your tree appears to be deteriorating fast. Hire a tree removal service or arborist to remove your sick tree before it becomes a serious safety hazard.

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