WTXL ABC 27 recently stopped by to talk trees with two of our arborists, and the message was one we repeat to homeowners all season long: the best time to find a problem tree is before the storm, not after. You can watch the full segment on WTXL.com.
Both Tim Walters, our ISA Board Certified Master Arborist, and Katie Watkins, an ISA Certified Arborist on our sales team, walked through what they look for when assessing whether a tree is a hazard.
What an arborist actually looks for
A lot of decay hides in plain sight. Tim pointed out that a bulge swelling out of a limb (what he describes as looking “like bat wings”) is often the tree reacting to hidden rot underneath. From the ground, it just looks like a thick branch. To a trained eye, it’s a warning.
The other signs are the ones we tell every homeowner to watch for: “Cracks, conks, mushrooms, any kind of fruiting bodies,” along with dead limbs and branches that have already snapped or broken. Mushrooms and conks growing on the trunk or root flare are especially telling, because they mean a fungus is already feeding on wood inside the tree.
Why we'd rather treat than remove
Once decay opens a pocket in the wood, the problem rarely stays contained. As Katie put it, those openings invite “water intrusion, also insects, disease,” and each of those accelerates the decline. Catching it early often means we can intervene and keep the tree standing. “We’d rather treat that tree before,” she explained, than be called out to remove it after it has failed onto a roof or driveway.
That’s the whole case for inspecting now. A tree that’s caught early is frequently a tree that can be saved. A tree that fails in a hurricane is a removal, a cleanup, and sometimes a repair bill.
Don't wait for the forecast
There’s also a practical timing reason. When a named storm enters the Gulf, every reputable tree company in town gets booked solid within hours. The homeowner who had a hazardous tree assessed in June has options. The one who calls the day before landfall usually doesn’t.
If you have a tree you’re unsure about (a lean that looks new, a big dead limb over the house, mushrooms at the base), now is the time to have it looked at. Request a free estimate and one of our certified arborists will take a look, or call us at (850) 894-TREE.
