From Neil Sperry's e-gardens newsletter - reproduced with permission

Large parts of Texas have received strong storms in recent days with another powerful round rolling through last night. Driving through neighborhoods where large limbs and entire trees were down I observed several things that need to be noted immediately.

If you see downed power lines, do not attempt to do anything near them. Call 911 immediately and leave that work to the professionals.

Similarly, if a large tree has fallen or become significantly weakened, call for professional help of a licensed and well-trained arborist. They are skilled at tree repair and removal in and around buildings. This is not a job for an amateur.

If smaller limbs (up to 3 or 4 inches in diameter) have been blown out of your trees there are probably some jagged stubs left behind. Carefully remove those stubs so that there will be a smooth surface near the remaining trunk or branch. You'll want to leave approximately one-quarter-inch of the branch collar in place after you make the cut. The branch collar is the "delta" of the branch, that is, the swollen area where the branch attaches to the trunk. Leaving just a bit of the collar in place following pruning quickens the healing process.

Do not apply pruning sealants to most of these cut surfaces, although oaks specifically should have a light dose of sealant to prevent entry of insects that could carry the oak wilt fungus.

If you have a larger tree whose trunk has begun to show a split you should call a professional. They will know whether drilling and bolting the tree would be a solution. Cabling higher up in the tree may even be recommended. Do not attempt to band such a situation since anything you wrap around a tree's trunk will eventually girdle and kill it. Do not attempt to climb any tree that appears to have been damaged by the wind.

I saw many first and second year landscape trees blown over from the wind. I suspect the very wet soils that resulted from recent rains aided in their poor anchoring. Trees that have been blown out-of-plumb must be righted, preferably immediately. The entire root ball will need to be reset. You cannot simply pull a trunk into a straight line and stake it to hold it there. You have to reestablish the root system correctly so that the trunk emerges from the ground at the same angle it originally did. Once repositioned, the tree can be staked securely to prevent this from happening again.

Finally, because of all the wind there will be hundreds of Bradford pear issues that have cropped up. There always are. They are notoriously poorly branched due to their very narrow branch angles. Most Bradford pears split down their middles before they reach even 10 years of age. Other varieties of ornamental pears will do the same thing, but Bradfords are best known for it. Experience has shown us that, once split, these trees will never regain their symmetry and beauty. They should be taken down and replaced before other major branches follow the lead of these first broken ones.

Another Note of Interest:
Those of you in the Lake Lavon service area (primarily Collin County) where residents have been told that Stage 3 water curtailments will automatically be extended through the end of this calendar year may want to track a few Websites today. Rivers and creeks feeding into Lake Lavon are fully flooding and out of their banks this morning, May 3. Lake levels are rising rapidly. Want to see the real facts of the water curtailment? You may have your eyes opened! Click here for links to the official websites that will show you those facts. (I'll give you a clue - we will ask the question, "Why are we in Stage Anything?"

Neil Sperry