Dead Trees: How to Keep Your Yard and Home Safe from Falling Branches

Even a relatively small branch can cause a tremendous amount of damage if it hits your home, and that is just one of the many reasons why you need to make sure that your trees are healthy. Properly maintaining your trees is going to reduce your risk of catastrophic damage during high winds and potentially increase the value of your property in the coming years.

Keep Pests off Your Property

Many people are surprised to hear that there actually quite a few pests that can damage and infect trees. If you have recently noticed that your tree is covered in any type of bugs, then you should immediately contact an exterminator. You might also want to schedule preventative pest control treatments once every few months even if you haven’t seen any bugs or rodents on your property.

Prune Young Trees

As a tree or plant is growing, proper pruning is going to be vital to its health. Pruning the correct branches will also allow you to control which direction the tree is going to grow as well as taking care of any dead or dying branches. Homeowners who aren’t comfortable with pruning or don’t have the proper tools to do it safely should consider hiring a professional tree service who can carefully remove branches without causing irreversible damage to the tree. Hiring a professional can be beneficial because they will have the right tools and safety equipment necessary to keep both them and you safe.

Check for Signs of Disease

At least once or twice a year, you must carefully look over every tree on your property to see if you can find any signs of diseases. When a tree is infected, the branches often become very brittle, and that means that they could come off whenever the wind picks up. Some of the most common signs of a diseased tree include seeping fluids, powder on the bark, gray growths, peeling bark, and yellow leaves. If any of these signs are present, its time to call a professional so that they can handle the tree or branches as they see fit.

Regularly Trim Adult Trees

Once a tree is fully mature, it will still need to be regularly trimmed if you want to keep it healthy and ensure that none of the branches are becoming brittle. While you might be able to prune a tree while it is smaller, you will most likely want to contact a company that offers tree services once it is fully grown. Trimming a tree is a delicate and potentially dangerous process that should only be carried out by a professional.

These few tips should reduce your risk of serious home damage, but you still want to be sure that you have a robust home insurance policy. Your insurance should cover some or all of your expenses if a branch ends up damaging your roof or another part of your home. However, following these tips can help prevent any damage that you may encounter and keep your home safe.

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