Storms take out neighborhood trees

naturegirl_2007 5B SW Michigan

12 years ago

Monday morning Grand Rapids had two waves of intense thunderstorms go through the area. The second one hit our area the hardest. We've been in our house 27 years and this is only the second time that the city set up a special area for residents to dispose of storm debris. Some massive trees snapped, tipped from the roots, or blew to bits. Several silver maples down the street look like they exploded. You can hardly see the lawn. We were fortunate....lost the top of one tree. It was one we earlier tried to figure out how to take down without damaging our fence or other structures. The storm snapped the top off and dropped it in the perfect place. Missed the fence on one side by 6 inches and a wall on the other end by 6 inches. Didn't hit either on the way down. We can take down the bottom half without much worry. And it is amazing how many branches can be tied onto a kayak roof rack and hauled away if you are determined :)

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (3)

brandon7 TN_zone7
12 years ago
Sounds like the East Tennessee area. We had a massive system roll through in April and then an even bigger one in June. At one point, about 2/3 of the power in this part of the state was knocked out! Many customers had to go without power for days. Many areas still look like a hurricane went through.

Glad you got lucky with your topless tree! (-;
ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
12 years ago
lucky you ... now do you have a greater appreciation.. presuming you read the post regularly .. why i talk about big trees slaughtering you while you sleep .. lol ..

landing 6 inches from the house.. is not a wide margin of error ... lol

i am due east of you near adrian [what a hundred miles, or so] ... we had a 5 minute micro burst just before 3/4 inches of rain.. the first rain since late may .... i figure we were just on the verge of tree damage ... but i just had some small dead branches shed.. but the tops of a couple of the 25 foot birches were touching the ground .... and then it was gone ...

ken
Related Discussions
Leaning tree and taking the stake out?
Q
Comments (6)
hmmm.. brandon throwing down the gauntlet.. and bboy coming to my aid.. go figure ... lol if the tree is not straightened .. consider it dead ... ergo .. digging half the roots .. and leaving half.. gives it a better shot at success .. in my mind anyway ... i agree with bboy ... it wouldnt have blown over.. if there was an extensive root system developed in one year ... its health will recover faster when the tree is straightened ... still all moot.. without a picture ... i had 2 two year in situ 6 foot, bare root tulip poplar .... increase threefold in canopy in two years ... big thunderstorm ... drops enough water ... to liquify the sand .. and then along comes the storm winds after ... blown to 45 degree angle one tree i simply pulled back to vertical .. and staked .. the stake of which brandon was kidding me about last week ... the other.. couldnt pull it .. so i dug half way around.. as noted above.. straightened it.. and staked it.. 5 years later.. they are equal .. no impact with digging... but i cant keep a buck away from one of them .. lol ken
...See More
Taking out tall Pine trees
Q
Comments (12)
I'll add a couple of things I learned over the years using a chain saw. Don't cut on a very windy day, yes the wind can catch the top of a tree and send it in the wrong direction--even with the notch. Have an escape route to move away from the tree before you saw. In other words make sure you have a clear area to get to quickly in case the tree was to fall back toward you. If your only experience is cutting up logs and not cutting down trees, you might want to get someone to help that has experience in felling trees. Felling trees requires a litle more knowledge than simply bucking them and is a little more dangerous. Size up the tree by looking up at the top and seeing where the weight is concentrated or which way the tree is naturally leaning. Usually you throw the tree in the direction of the lean, but if that is not possible due to the fact it might fall on your house or get caught up in another tree, you can rope it. Tie a rope up as high as you can get it in the tree to be cut down. Wrap the other end around a tree in the direction you want your tree to fall. Pull the end back toward the side you will be sawing on and tie it to your truck hitch. Pull the rope tight by driving the tree ever so slightly forward and keep the tension on the rope. With the notch on the felling side, the tension of the rope pulling the tree in the direction you want it to go, start sawing the tree. About half way through the cut, pull the truck up slightly to increase the tensin. The gap of the cut should be wider which would indicate the tree will fall in the direction you want it. Cut into the tree again until it is about through. Pull the truck foward and the tree should fall where you want it. If you only understand a little of this or none of it, hire someone to cut your trees. If you lack confidence in doing the job, don't do it. Saving a little money is not worth injury. The term "widow maker" is sometimes used to describe a tree that is dangerous to take down. I had one of these and I hired two men to take it down. I sawed it up myself. Even after watching the job, I probably would not attempt to take down a "widow maker" with a chain saw. I would hire the tree guy with his bucket truck.
...See More
Does your neighborhood have a lot of old growth trees around?
Q
Comments (42)
I took these in early fall up the mountains from me, so not in my neighborhood, but not too far away The first one is a Q. Alba and the second is a Q. Rubra, both up the mountains from me. And then there are 2 American Beech trees about 5 miles from me, and each tree is about a mile from each other. The jug in the 2 top pics is a gallon jug. Shingle oak about 5 miles from my house. There are some closer to me, actually in my neighborhood, but, I have yet to get someone to pose next to them for scale. I may just bring a baseball cap along for scale. There is a Q. Alba that isn';t super large, but, is kinda old and a bit large, it is hollow now so I best get a picture taken. There was a car which crashed into it about 8-10 years ago. It just may not be there for too much longer. I went on the Pa big trees site last night, and there are not very many oaks in my county, which is Fayette county Pa. I think there are only 2-3 listed. And I was shocked there were no Sycamores listed as champs here. Poaky1
...See More
UPDATE: Neighborhood Clean Out Your Garden Swap #2
Q
Comments (92)
Ann, I'm jealous. My friends always want me to come over and give them landscaping ideas or a plan. I would LOVE to be some kind of a designer. I would have no idea how much to charge (or when I would find the time to do it...LOL!!). Good for you!! As for the garden hooker thing, you must plant alot of those mushrooms that Barb has! LOL!!!! LOL!!!! FRANCES, I could just KISS YOU!!!!! My brugs are budding like crazy right now, I AM SO EXCITED!!!!!!! I think that what you told me about removing the extra growth is what did the trick. It seems like as soon as I did that, a week later I started to see buds. OMG!!!! I can't wait. I will be taking a million pictures of them when they bloom!!! WOOHOO!!!! Ok, now another question for you ladies, what do I do about aphids?? I noticed that a few of my brugs already have them, ugh, I don't want to bring these inside this winter! :-( Oh, and Frances, I have a loooong list of things for you, so you can come up here and be my handy-woman for a while!!! ;-) I posted this on another trade thread but I wanted to ask you guys too... a good friend of mine just bought a new house that has an indoor pool. Well, the pool room is like a greenhouse (I am so over the top jealous, I want to move in!!!! I told my husband that we should start looking for a new house. LOL) Anyway, she said that I could overwinter some of my larger plants there if I wanted to. Does anyone know if the chlorine in the air will harm my plants? I've looked online and everything I've read so far says the water in pools isn't that much worse than city tap water (as far as chlorine content) and that plants next to a pool will be fine. Anyone have experience with this. I would be SOOOOO happy if I could overwinter there, MAN would that clear up some space in the house and my plants would be so much happier there. Amy
...See More
naturegirl_2007 5B SW Michigan
Original Author
12 years ago
Ken, as I drove home after the storm and saw massive damage I was reminded repeatedly of many of your posts...almost went back to take pics just for you to see. But I'm in a "lack of knowledge" time with a new computer and new camera so no photo posts for awhile.

The tree missed the side wall of an above ground pool so the house wall was safe. My wording was misleading. We might have figured pool damage to be a blessing, too, as it is very old and the kids have moved out of state, and we aren't around as much in the summer so we have debated what to do with it.

The only tree of size near the house is the last of a row of medium sized spruce. Took out the others year by year and brought them to Christmas tree recyling in many pieces. Yes, they had been Christmas trees with outdoor lighting, but they never would have fit inside when we cut them! We plan to take the last one out this Christmas...partly in response to things you have written. I'm half tempted to cut that last one now while I have an easy disposal site but a million and one other garden jobs are calling. It is located where the prevailing storm winds would blow it away from the house so we, perhaps foolishly, feel we can continue our multi-year removal plan. And it is on a side away from high use rooms like bedrooms. Probably not a good idea to gamble with changing winds for much longer.

A kayak buddy told a story of terror about falling trees that also convinced me to remove trees. He and his wife went to bed early on a stormy night and a few minutes later a huge tree smashed through the roof and the trunk crushed the sofa where they would have normally watched the news. Wasn't even their tree and eventually, after much negotiating, they received an insurance settlement from the guilty party and used the $$ to move to a tree-safe place. Fortunately, we don't have neighbors' trees to worry about.

So yes, everyone....LISTEN TO KEN....HE IS A WISE MAN....LOL

Storms take out neighborhood trees

Comments (3)

brandon7 TN_zone7

ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5

Related Discussions

naturegirl_2007 5B SW Michigan
Original Author

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

Storms take out neighborhood trees

Comments (3)

brandon7 TN_zone7

ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5

Related Discussions

naturegirl_2007 5B SW MichiganOriginal Author

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

naturegirl_2007 5B SW Michigan
Original Author