Several years of drought coupled with recent heavy rainfall and winds have left dead trees, saturated ground, and ripe conditions for trees to fall in storms.
Karl Carlson, of Carlson’s Tree Care in Citrus Heights, called last week’s rainfall “the busiest storm damage week in the last four years” and said his company has been busy this year with an increase in dead trees falling.
According to police, last week’s storms caused at least three trees to fall into Citrus Heights roadways, two of which uprooted in soil saturated by rain.
Carlson, a certified arborist, offered six tips for residents to assess whether a tree might be more prone to fall, but cautioned that “you can’t always tell — it’s called an act of God for a reason.”
Six warning signs to look for:
- Cracks in the soil around the tree.
- Water coming up from the soil around the tree during wind and rain.
- Up-heaving or mounding soil near the base of the tree.
- Mushrooms or fungus on-or-around the base of the tree, which can be a “tell-tale sign” of root problems.
- A new lean that was not present before.
- Trees with no leaf or sparse leaves, indicating a tree that may have died or has a bad root system.
Carlson focused on the problem of dead trees, which, although a seemingly obvious hazard, are a common problem he’s seen this season. He attributed the increase to the ground not being saturated for the past few years of drought, meaning that weaker trees “haven’t been rooted out” for four to five years.
“There’s so many dead trees around,” said the arborist. “People think they’ll come back… [but] if there’s no leaves on your tree last summer, you need to take it out.”
He said there’s “a possibility” trees with sparse green foliage will come back, but stressed that a dead tree can fall down even without wind due to a decaying root system. He also said that healthy evergreen trees are more likely to fail in a storm than healthy deciduous trees, which lose their leaves each winter, because more leaves in the tree creates more of a “sail” effect in high winds.
Related: “Storm results in fallen trees, collisions & minor flooding in Citrus Heights”
Annual assessments of trees on a property by an arborist are often recommended by those in the tree care industry. Carlson said the industry standard is to offer free estimates and general assessments of tree health, but he said written reports will typically come with a charge.
Regina Cave, with the city’s general services department, also provided similar tips as Carlson after contacting the city’s consulting arborist. She said air bubbles near the base of the tree can also be a warning sign, but cautioned that “neither the city nor the consultant make any claims that this is an all-inclusive list or guarantees these warnings.”
Citrus Heights also has a tree protection ordinance which may require a tree permit to be obtained prior to removing a tree. The ordinance primarily applies to oak trees over six inches in diameter, but large trees over 19 inches in diameter are also protected, although some certain species are exempt.
According to the city’s website, pines and eucalyptus are exempt from the tree protection ordinance and do not require a permit. Non-exempt trees require a $30 filing fee and a permit application filed with the planning division, but Carlson said a certified arborist can remove a tree deemed hazardous without a permit.
