Owning a home means a lot of work and maintenance. And while you may not have considered it in the past, the trees in your yard are among the things that need work and maintenance occasionally. Trees, for the most part, grow without assistance and remain healthy fairly easily. However, much like other living things, they can sustain damage or even get sick. It is important to learn how to know your trees need work so that you can contact a tree care or tree removal service right away when things go awry.
Your Tree Has Several Dead Branches
One of the biggest indicators that your tree needs maintenance or removal is the presence of dead branches. During the spring and summer, you will be able to tell if branches on your trees are healthy or not based on the amount of foliage they have.
Branches with very little foliage are often dying or damaged. Branches with no foliage at all are considered dead. Now, one or two dead branches on a tree are no big deal and simply need to be removed.
However, if a large number of your tree's branches appear dead, you will want to contact a tree care service. It is likely that your tree will need to be removed if half or more of the branches are dead because this is an indicator that the tree as a whole is dying.
The Trunk Is Damaged
Damage to the trunk of your tree can be an indicator that something serious is amiss. For example, a tree that is struck by lightning may have a split trunk. Trunks can also split because the tree is unhealthy or damaged in other ways.
When the trunk of a tree is severely damaged, the rest of the tree will often fail to thrive. The nutrients the tree needs to be healthy come up through the root system, and when the trunk is not in good shape, many of these nutrients do not reach the branches above.
Another potential sign of an unhealthy trunk is in the bark. For most trees, the bark should not peel off of the tree. When it is peeling, that is a sign of trouble. It could indicate that the tree has a disease or that it is simply not getting enough vital nutrients.
Now that you know some of the ways to tell your trees need work, you can contact a tree care and removal service, such as Schulhoff Tree & Lawn Care, Inc., at any sign of trouble.