My previous house had wetlands behind it, which were beautiful and full of life (I miss them). Someone planted a row of Silver maples and Red maples along the edge of the wetlands, probably for wind break. They were at least 50 years old and large. Anyway, one evening a storm blew through and an incredible wind came through the yard. It was either a mini-twister or a down draft or something, the wind was easily hurricane force. After it passed, I went out to check if anything had blown around. I looked into the back yard and saw the sillouhette of a very large "shrub" that had appeared in the yard. At first I thought it was a large branch, but then I looked up at the silhouette of the maples - and oddly, there was a gap in the canopy where the largest tree used to be. It dawned on me that the tree had blown over. Did it ever! This tree was HUGE. 50-odd year old Silver maple, with 5 large trunks. The biggest tree on the property! Completely blown over, the canopy fell about 10 feet short of the deck and smashed a small fruit orchard to smithereens. There was a 20 foot rootball sticking up out of the swamp. My boyfriend at the time cut up the canopy. I had a tree guy chip the brush and cut the trunks, and watched the rootball flop back over into the swamp. I was so bummed to lose this tree and that my lovely fruit trees were ruined. There were a couple beautiful Yellow delicious apple trees and they were full of fruit that year. With all the apples strewn about, it was like trying to walk on marbles to cut up the brush. The upside was, that the gap in the treeline opened up a gorgeous vista of the wetlands. I've got plenty of pictures, but they are all on print, no digital.

"There is a plant hormone called auxin (plant types here know it well) that heals tree wounds. Unfortunately it is only found within a foot or less after a fork." Sorry, but that's simply pure rubbish and is not even close to a valid reason for the way trees should be trimmed! _____________________________________ Trees don't "heal". They grow over (cover) their wounds. When terminal/heading cuts are made (as in when a tree is topped), the tree grows to cover over its wounds by growing new branches at or near the cut. At least two problems occur at heading cuts. First, the time it takes for new branches to develop into the size it takes to develop enough growth to cover the relatively large wounds is often longer than it takes for the exposed wood to rot. And second, the branches that do form at these heading cuts are often poorly attached and fail as they grow (rewounding the tree). So the problems are timing (growth not fast enough to prevent rot) and structural quality (poorly attached branches).

answer me this batman.. who paints the trees in the forest.. that live a couple hundred years.. no one!!!! if God had meant trees to be painted.. he would have given the trees arms to paint themselves .. and very large cars to get to the paint store... dont you think ... listen to me... with NO INSULT to the root mass.. these trees will explode with advantageous growth.. it is imperative.. that you properly prune them before that growth ... stuff happens.. you know what i mean.. and you remove DAMAGED parts.. and then let the plant.. next year.. respond ... if after next year or the year after .. you find that it needs some guidance.. or shaping ... then think about that then ... simply repair or remove damage.. and then give them time to get their act together ... put simply.. i am of the opinion.. that damaged parts are removed IMMEDIATELY .... w/o hesitation.. and without thought as to when the proper time is.. i prune trees.. when i walk by with the saw.. 24/7/365 .... the proper time to remove damage.. was 2 hours before you made this post ... if there is damage high up.. and it threatens anything or anyone.. hire that job out.... or die in your sleep when it falls on your house .. a bit of drama there.. to motivate you .. lol .. ken

I lost power for almost a week, but that was actually not so bad. Some of my top heavy vines had problems; a tall, narrow trellis tied to a brinck pillar snapped in half, and I lost half the akebia that had clustered at the top. The heavy blanket of the autumn clematis that grows over the back fence blew over, but I simply heaved it back over the fence and it's doing fine. We did lose what seemed like hundreds of unripe peaches on one of the trees at work, but they didn't seem to be ripening anyway. and the tree looks much happier now! No big tree damage at my apartment, my parents house, or the garden at work -- I'd say I was pretty lucky.