Not long after we got walloped by windy weather, I received a phone call from a reader who told me the reason so many trees fell on homes and over roads was too many Douglas firs with shallow roots.
“You look at every photo of a house with tree through it and it’s a Doug fir,” he told me.
The answer, he said, might be to get people to cut down the Douglas firs around their homes.
Cutting down every Douglas fir within striking distance of a building is not the solution. But this person’s observation did make me consider why so many trees came down, especially in certain areas, and what, if anything, we could do to prevent trees in our own backyards from becoming unsafe.
It turns out we can do quite a bit.
No one can say exactly when a tree will fall, but most people can recognize when a tree might be hazardous, if they pay attention, said Dan Douglas, the aptly named Snohomish arborist with 29 years of experience.
“People are worried about trees because so many have blown down, but most of them could have been predicted,” he said.
Just like an ill person might develop pale, clammy skin or a rash, trees present their own set of symptoms when less than healthy, he said. A hazardous tree might have dead or missing branches. The foliage color might be off or the wrong shape or size. The tree may have cavities or rotten wood in the trunk or in branches, or there may be cracks in the trunk where the branches attach.
It seems like common sense that a dead or dying tree is at risk, especially during a big blow, but apparently a lot of people either don’t notice or don’t care.
Douglas often feels compelled to notify property owners when he sees a hazardous tree, whether the owner is a municipality or a homeowner. He gets frustrated when nothing changes and nobody listens.
Not long ago, he was driving around Mill Creek and saw a hazardous tree next to a home. He knocked on the door, identified himself and let the owner know her tree would likely fall. He couldn’t tell her if it would happen in three months or three years, but it’s clear it would happen. He wasn’t looking for business. He just wanted her to know. She did nothing.
During the last major windstorm, that same tree fell on her neighbor’s car.
A quick drive around Mill Creek provided plenty of other examples. Douglas showed me trees near houses, apartments, businesses, at parks, along busy roads and even one right next to the fire station that were at risk of losing a limb or falling.
Trees are more likely to have a problem as they get older, if they’ve been poorly pruned or if they’ve been infected with a disease. Sometimes certain soils can’t support larger trees. But the common thread in Mill Creek is that many of these trees have been affected by development. In some cases, sidewalks and streets were built next to the bases of trees. In others, heavy machinery circled the bases, compacting the soil and destroying the complex exchange of gases in the roots that’s necessary for a tree’s survival.
Construction can change land in ways that affect trees. Douglas showed me a stand of Douglas firs at McCollum Park with their roots in the water. These trees prefer dry conditions. Moving and piling dirt during a construction project redirected the flow of water, creating a low marshy spot. One of the trees had recently fallen on top of a vehicle parked in a nearby apartment lot.
“All these trees are on their way out because we’re killing them,” Douglas said of the waterlogged stand.
The arborist showed me apartment complexes where, in an attempt to leave some nature intact, a builder left one or two trees standing. Those trees had spent most of their lives buffered by their neighbors and hadn’t grown the roots necessary to withstand a major windstorm.
Douglas isn’t anti-development, and he isn’t suggesting homeowners cut down their Douglas firs or any other trees without cause. He does suggest builders could put up barriers around trees so they’re less likely to be damaged during construction. They also could avoid changing the soil level around trees. If trees must come down, leave the smaller trees and take the larger. Younger trees are more likely to adapt to new surroundings, he said.
It’s a property owner’s responsibility to make sure the trees on his property are safe. Arborists are trained to find and assess damage. If you think a tree on your property might be hazardous, you can hire a certified arborist by contacting the International Society of Arboriculture at www.isa-arbor.com, or by calling 888-472-8733. You can search for an arborist online by location.
If a neighbor’s tree falls on your house, you pay for it, unless you can somehow prove the neighbor knew the tree was dangerous, Douglas said. There is little you can do other than ask your neighbor to do something about it. If that fails, you can send a certified letter putting the neighbor on notice, Douglas said.
Reporter Debra Smith: 425-339-3197 or dsmith@heraldnet.com.
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