While winter is a time of dormancy or hibernation for most creatures great and small, the men of CLC Tree Services still manage to keep pretty darn active. At this time of year, you will see the gang heading back out to collect all of the Christmas Decor that we so lovingly hung a month or so ago, but we are also active with our tree services. You might be surprised to hear that, but it is very true and often an active time for us.
We might have had a mild winter thus far, but so often in the winter we are called out for storm damage. CLC specializes in snow and ice storm damage remediation and provides superior site cleanup for our customers. In the winter, trees are more brittle, hence more vulnerable to breakage from ice or heavy snow.
Who can forget London’s “Snowmageddon” from December 2010 when the Forest City literally ground to a halt. Schools and businesses were closed. Snow removal crews worked 24-7 for days to try to keep up with the incredible 100+cm of snow that fell on London and surrounding areas over a three day period. And while the kids might have been doing happy dances to have had a few extra days off school, the trees groaned and snapped under the heavy weight. We remember it well. We were there helping to clean up trees damaged under the onslaught of all that white stuff.
It isn’t always snow and ice that cause problems for trees though. Temperature fluctuations can also wreak havoc on trees that are just trying to sleep through the winter months. If temperatures rise during the day, then plummet at night, frost cracks become an issue. This occurs generally on the south side of a tree, due to its increased exposure to sunlight. The outer and inner layer of bark on a tree contract at different rates and a pressure crack appears. This looks like a vertical fracture and sadly, once a tree has suffered from one, it is likely to reoccur in future winters. Even worse, there is not much that can be done about it, but the good news is that a tree generally can heal the wound.
I could go on and on about other winter issues for trees such as drought, sunscald, root damage, rodent injury or evergreen winter burn. Many of these issues are either unavoidable or something that probably should have been dealt with before winter set in (like making sure to water your trees regularly right up until the ground freezes). If you have any concerns about your trees, feel free to give us a holler though. CLC Tree Services is only a phone call away, 24 hours a day to assess your winter damaged trees. Our chain saws rev spring, summer, fall and even in the winter.