Heavy spring snow having direct impact on trees

With massive amounts of heavy snow, trees in our area are taking the brunt of recent snow storms.

An arborist tells KRDO NewsChannel 13 this type of snow can take a toll on trees, causing broken and cracked branches.

Depending on its moisture content, it can weigh about 20 pounds per cubit foot.

When it comes to preserving your trees, upkeep is key.

“Trees genetically come from forest environments. We take a tree out of the forest and put it in our yard where there’s no competition for sunlight and then next thing you know it’s growing in ways it shouldn’t be growing, so corrective pruning, structural pruning can help them improve… and allow them to live longer and weather storms like this,” explained Albert Godec.

Godec has been a certified arborist for 20 years in the area, and is the owner of Bob Rundo Tree Surgeon.

“Much like a car. If you buy a car and you take care of it, you do the thigns that are necessary to promote longevity… Trees are the same way. You take a tree, you plant it, and you care for it it’s going to last much much longer and provide benefits over its lifetime. If you take that tree and plant it and walk away it may have some problems down the road,” Godec said.

Godec also adds that our first reaction most times is to shake snow from limbs. You can damage limbs by shaking them, in fact.

Instead, if you want to get snow off of limbs, push gently up on the limb.

If you suspect your tree needs maintaining, Godec says leave it to the experts and let an arborist take care of it.