[PRESENTED BY THE REAL TREE MASTERS INC.]

With the incredibly high winds that the GTA has been experiencing, high levels of snowfall and freezing cold temperatures, you’ve likely noticed multiple trees and limbs fallen around the Mississauga area.

It is very easy to lose track of maintaining the trees on our property, especially with all of the other house-maintenance we must do. Sadly, the lack of preventative measures taken by home-owners, coupled with severe windstorms plaguing the GTA, over $200 million of losses are reported from severe weather damages; much of this which is due to weak, old, or unstable trees falling on houses, and sometimes even injuring residents.

This article will provide you with critical tips on how to inspect the trees in your surroundings in order to prevent tree damage and keep your family and property safe.

1. Gain Awareness: Carve out some time this weekend to gain awareness of the trees in your front yard, backyard, and any trees near your property. You should have an understanding of which trees are closest to your home and what kind of risk they may pose to you.

2. Inspect the roots: Often times, we don’t pay close attention to our trees to realize that the roots are not firmly planted in the ground. The trees which are most susceptible to storm damage are ones that have uprooting; during last year’s wind storms, hundreds of trees fell due to this reason. If you notice any of the trees on your property have their roots not properly dug into the ground, be sure to call an arborist to provide an inspection. Uprooting is more likely to occur with coniferous trees such as Pine, Spruce, and Cedar.

3. Inspect the stem and limbs: Start by closely standing next to each tree, and inspect whether there are any cracks in the stem or limbs of the tree. With the snow on the trees, this can be more difficult to spot, so ensure that you circle the tree to get a glimpse of any damages from different angles.

4. Check for adequate clearance between your property and the tree: Trees should not be too close to your home or growing over your property. Ideally is to have trees trimmed to 3 to 5 feet away from your property.

5. Annual maintenance: Have your local arborist inspect all the trees on your property on an annual basis in order to remove and trim dead branches and inspect trees for any irregularities that would increase the risk of storm damage.

A key point to make here, is to ensure you are always aware of the trees on your property, and to continuously monitor them for any changes that spark a suspicion in the overall health of the tree. When in doubt, don’t risk the safety of your family and your property, be sure to contact a certified arborist who ill be able to carefully inspect the tree and advise of any required action that needs to be taken.

The Real Tree Masters Inc. is a Mississauga-based tree service company. Our arborists love what they do, and it shows in the quality of service our clients receive. We offer a breadth of both residential and commercial tree services including: tree health inspections, tree removal, tree planting, storm damage tree services, tree pruning, tree trimming, and stump removal.