Why Dead-wooding Is a Must-Have for Your Trees in Lafayette, Indiana

A storm passed the night before, and you’re out in the yard to check for damages while you fetch the paper. You can only hope you’re dealing with scattered branches and twigs, but you heard the wind howling last night while you tried to drift off to sleep. It brings to mind the last time a storm came through, when a falling branch almost clipped your car as you pulled in the driveway.

Thunderstorms are just one scenario that makes dead-wooding a crucial part of the upcoming storm season. Dead-wooding is a type of tree trimming, and there are a few important reasons why Wildcat Creek Tree Service in Lafayette, Indiana recommends dead-wooding for your trees on a regular basis.

Enjoy this guide to better understand the benefits of dead-wooding and how the lack thereof can negatively impact our trees and ourselves.

Dead-Wooding Promotes Tree Health

Have you noticed a dead branch or two in one of your trees lately? You may be thinking that it’s just one branch, that it’s no big deal. Should this natural process go unchecked, however, this deadwood will spoil the health of a good tree. 

Indeed, larger trees are bound to have a few dead branches on them at any given time. Left to rot, they become a dead weight forcing new branches to grow around or avoid those spots altogether. This, combined with the way sunlight interacts with the tree, contributes to an uneven canopy.

This so-called dead weight also attracts pests who feed on the wood. This by itself wouldn’t be a problem, but this process unfortunately spreads disease to the rest of the tree. Should it be necessary, removing a dead tree is another matter entirely; though you can help extend the lifespan of living ones by dead-wooding.

Dead-Wooding Improves Yard Safety

All it takes is one bad storm to reveal the hazard caused by dead branches in your tree. Without proper care or maintenance, your trees carry the burden until those branches blow away, possibly falling on someone before landing on the ground.

Do you have any trees on your property close to the street? If the storm is strong enough, large branches or even the entire tree may come crashing down on the street, blocking roadways for people going to work, school, or anywhere at all. 

Also, consider trees that are uncomfortably close to your home. Deadwood is not neatly attached to the tree by any means, so in the “right” conditions it could land on your roof, scrape your siding, or worse. 

Dead-wooding on a regular basis can help reduce these risks, so you can prevent these possibilities rather than paying for storm damage removal afterward. 

Style AND Substance

Apart from health and safety concerns, we at Wildcat Creek Tree Service pride ourselves as stewards of the land. As such, the natural beauty of a well-cared-for tree is yet another priority for this Lafayette, Indiana tree service.

There’s no denying the aesthetic concern created by deadwood. Even a lone branch that’s gotten stuck in a tree’s canopy can be very distracting, especially if it’s too high to remove easily. When deadwood becomes a dying tree, the natural beauty inherent in a healthy tree becomes an unpleasant relic of lost life. Instead of healthy, colorful leaves, you find hard, crackly ones on dry branches, with bark peeling off the trunk. At the end of the day, we want our trees to look nice. It’s one way we can do them a favor for all they do for us. 

Another Word for Deadwood: Firewood

Keep warm on those cool spring nights with this free source of renewable energy. Seeing that it’s split off the tree anyway, you could use leftover deadwood for your fireplace,wood-burning stove, or a cozy campfire. 

It’s safe to burn indoors once it’s properly seasoned, which takes about six months, but deadwood has a bit of a head start. In the meantime, you can split up the dead branch into evenly split pieces of firewood and store them safely until they’re ready to burn.

Call the Tree Care Experts

As important as dead-wooding is for the safety and health of our trees, it can be dangerous to go about yourself if you’re not careful. If you need help with dead-wooding on your property, leave it to Wildcat Creek Tree Service. This Lafayette, Indiana tree service has the right equipment and the experience to get your trees back on the road to good health!. 

Wildcat Creek Tree Service provides a number of tree services including dead-wooding. If you’re interested or you have any questions, you can contact us online or give us a call at 765-404-0938.