The tree looked fine right up until it didn't
Robinson Tree Service · Memphis, TN
Full canopy, green leaves, no dead branches — and the root plate underneath has been failing for three years. Here is what to look at instead.
The trees that come down on houses are very rarely the obviously dead ones. Those get noticed and dealt with. The ones that fail are usually in full leaf the week they go over, which is why the owner is so shocked.
A canopy tells you how the tree is doing this season. It tells you almost nothing about whether the bottom of it is sound.
Mushrooms at the base
If fungus is fruiting at the foot of the trunk or over the root flare, the fungus is the visible part of something that has been working inside the wood for years. Not all of it is serious. Some of it is very serious, and the difference is not something you can judge from a photograph.
This is the one we would most like people to call about. A tree with advanced root rot can hold a full canopy and look completely healthy right up until the day it goes over, because the leaves are supplied by wood that is still alive while the structure holding it up is not.
A lean that was not there last year
Trees lean. Most of them have leaned the same way for decades and are perfectly stable. What matters is change.
- Soil lifted, cracked or heaved on the opposite side from the lean — that is the root plate starting to move.
- A gap opening between the trunk and the ground on one side.
- A lean that has appeared or increased since a storm.
- Roots visibly severed on one side by a trench, a driveway or a new fence line.
A tree that has leaned the same way for thirty years is usually fine. A tree that started leaning in June is the one to have looked at this month, not next spring.
Trees that were left standing when the houses went up
This one is specific to a lot of Cordova, Eads and the newer subdivisions. When a development goes in, some of the original woodland trees get kept, and they look like the best thing on the lot.
The trouble is that they grew up sheltered on all sides by other trees. They never developed the trunk taper or the root spread of a tree that grew in the open, because they never had to. Then the trees around them are cleared and they are standing alone in a lawn, carrying wind they were never built for, often with half their roots cut by the construction that put the house there.
Those are the trees we are most often called out to assess on properties built in the last twenty-five years, and they are worth a proper look well before anything happens.
Cracks, cavities and old wounds
A hole where a limb tore out years ago is not automatically a problem — trees compartmentalize damage and carry on. What matters is how much sound wood is left around it, and whether the crack runs vertically up the trunk or follows the grain.
A vertical crack on a main stem, especially one that has opened further since the last storm, is a different matter from a healed-over wound. So is a cavity large enough to put your arm into on a trunk carrying weight over a house.
What an assessment actually gets you
Not a sales pitch for a removal. Most of what we look at does not need to come down; it needs weight taken off, deadwood cleared, or nothing at all beyond keeping an eye on it.
What you get is a straight answer about which of your trees are sound, which one is the one to deal with, and whether it is urgent or a job for the winter. That is worth knowing before a storm makes the decision for you, and it is far cheaper than finding out the hard way — a removal done calmly in January costs a fraction of the same tree taken off a roof at 2am.
Our checks are free, and a certified arborist does them. If your trees are fine we will tell you they are fine.
If this is your situation
Questions about a tree on your property? 901-363-3539, or send us a note. Estimates and preventative check-ups are free.
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Fill out the form and tell us what kind of tree service is needed: from tree removal, trimming, to firewood or just a health check. We have a certified arborist and professional crews who know the trees of Memphis.