As the D.C. area continues recovering from the latest severe storm, crews are also working to remove the many trees that fell as a result of weekend storms.
Arborist Craig Davis Sr. said while strong winds or moisture can cause a tree to fall, there are ways you can try to prevent it from possibly uprooting your life and seriously damaging your home.
“You really don’t want a big tree close to your house,” Davis said. For example, ideally you would want your house to be almost 50 feet away from a 50-foot tall tree. “So should it fall, it won’t hit your house,” he added.
Instead, Davis suggests you buy small ornamental trees, such as Japanese maples or dogwood trees. He said, if they fall, there would be substantially less damage. Davis also said you should be careful when it comes to tree maintenance.
For example, Davis said people need to ensure their trusted arborists are pruning trees properly.
Workers without the proper expertise and training on how to prune trees can do some serious damage that could “materialize into a problem” in the future.
While there are precautions you should take to make sure your tree doesn’t end up creating a disaster during a storm, Davis said it’s important to remember that trees are necessary and should be treated as such.
“Trees are not just decorative. They do a job that we thrive from. They give us life. Without them, we would not be here,” he said. “They clean the Earth, and they help us with a lot of human activity. So it’s a thing that we need, and we have to have more appreciation for them.”
