Boutte Tree has always provided free visual assessments to owners and managers of trees to help them evaluate the risk of their trees along with our free estimates. But there are times where a more in depth evaluation is necessary. Perhaps for insurance reasons the risks of falling trees must be kept very low, or for a certain tree the consequences of the tree falling would be disastrous. In these cases, Boutte Tree’s arborists, utilizing the latest in technology and equipment, can provide you with more information.

Trees can fail in a variety of ways as pictured at left. A skillful Arborist will know which type of failure is most likely for a given tree and be able to provide meaningful advice about the ways to lower risk for the particular kind of failure anticipated.

The following is a list of tools and the information that they provide. Coupled with an arborist’s professional evaluation, you can decide what must be done with your tree and rest easy that all due diligence has been exercised.

• Root excavators use pressurized air to blow soil away from the roots right next to the trunk so that the root system can be evaluated for rot, fractures, and other signs of weakness. The use of air prevents the roots from losing bark in the process of digging.
• Lean Indicators are simply gauges that are installed to measure the lean of a tree as time goes by. Sometimes the movement of trees is gradual, and usually in the months and years before a tree falls, the root plate bulges upward on the back side and the tree tilts imperceptibly in the direction of fall. These gauges provide a reference for measuring lean over time.
• Lab analysis of infected leaves or other tissue can provide an arborist with the knowledge he or she needs to recommend chemicals, fertilizers, or other treatments.

Resistograph Section

This is probably the most common service that we offer to clients who are worried that a tree has become too heavy and tall, and will blow over completely or simply lose branches in a storm. This is not the same thing as topping at all, crown reduction takes place further out on a tree and all cuts are made at branch unions where healing can take place. Most of the time the goal is to lessen the weight and wind resistance of the tree. The reduction can be only on one side of the tree, or all around it.

Cabling holds together co-dominant stems and prevents the tree from splitting. Once a cable is installed it can’t be removed because the tree becomes reliant on the extra support. In rare cases limbs can be braced from the bottom.

Fertilization and aeration can allow a tree that appears weak to have a better shot at survival. Aeration is the practice of perforating the soil around a tree so that air may reach the roots. For trees on especially compacted soils or with hard surfaces nearby, aeration holes filled with a porous material, and augmented by organic fungi-based fertilizers can do wonders for the trees’ root systems.

Disease diagnosis helps where it appears there is a definite, specific micro-organism or insect attacking the tree. In these cases, a chemical is usually prescribed to combat the attacker in conjunction with water, mulching, fertilizing, and other steps which promote overall vigor and aid the tree in fighting back. Not all attackers can be fought with chemicals, so there are times when removing a tree is the best solution.