As a homeowner, when you have healthy trees on your property, they can add beautiful curb appeal, filter pollutants from the air, provide shade, and even help to keep your home. But when your trees aren't regularly maintained, they can cause damage and be hazardous.

When trees in your yard show signs of damage or being unhealthy, delaying addressing the issue can lead to more difficult or complicated situations. Call Boutte Tree for local tree maintenance services.

A damaged tree can threaten your home and property, and even a healthy tree may provide risks. A tree risk assessment can help you locate problem trees or areas and understand what should be done to address them. Some reasons to schedule a risk assessment include:

• Tree Health: Trees provide comfort and curb appeal for your property. You can often measure your trees’ continued health with a tree risk assessment, making sure they stay healthy and happy.
• Insurance Risks: Tree damage isn’t always covered by homeowner’s insurance. A risk assessment can not only prevent you from dealing with damage but may also help your insurance to cover a portion of the damages, saving you time and money.
• Property Damage: A fallen tree or branch can cause significant damage to your home or property. Everything from a broken gutter to a smashed roof or windows or even a vehicle. A tree risk assessment will help you know where you stand before things are damaged.

While bracing and cabling are generally considered last resorts to protect trees from structural damage, sometimes trees have ancestral or sentimental value that requires that trees be externally supported. Normally, trees would be protected by careful trimming and shaping to ensure structural stability but in the case of bracing and cabling, external supports are added to the tree.

At Boutte Tree, we specialize in 2 different types of cabling. A cabling system consists of a steel or synthetic cable that is strung between two points of a tree to weak joints from breakage. Steel cables are good for joints that are already showing signs of stress or breakage but they prevent the tree from recovering because they hold all of the weight with very little flexibility, similar to muscle atrophy when you’ve had a cast. Synthetic cables have a slight flex in them that allows the tree to move while it is supported, thus letting it strengthen its own weak joints.

At Boutte Tree our arborists can assess your most precious trees and decide what the best course of action is whether it is corrective trimming or cabling to support vulnerable sections.

Risk assessment is a procedure performed by arborists to determine how big of risk a tree poses to nearby structures. Municipalities, insurance companies and homeowners are common customers for tree risk assessments. Many municipalities will not allow trees to be removed unless a certified arborist obtains a permit that demonstrates that the tree in question is a hazard.

Many insurance policies also may not cover tree damage if risk assessments are not performed on a property’s trees. Homeowners can also call for tree assessment if they believe that a tree on their property poses a hazard or has become diseased or damaged.

During a risk assessment, an arborist will visit your property. Our arborist will perform a visual inspection to look for any signs that indicate that the tree may be compromised. Signs can include insect or fungus infestation, dead sections, rotten wood or discolored foliage.

After a visual inspection, the arborist may opt to perform certain tests that will look for dead spots within the trunk or they may send samples to a lab for testing. If there is a concern that the tree is beginning to lean, they will install lean indicators to monitor for changes over the course of several months.

Tree assessments ensure that your property and trees are protected. If you have the need to have your trees assessed, rest assured you are working with the right company.

Tree planting may seem as easy as buying a tree from a nursery and sticking it in a hole. But there are more things to consider. Since trees represent such a long-term decision it is important to consider why you are planting it. Trees can be planted for fruit or nut production, aesthetic value, shade or animal habitat. Another consideration is site selection. Often individuals fail to take into account the requirements of a tree when they plant it.

As a result, trees fail to thrive due to poor nutritional resources or they need to be removed after years of growth because they were planted too close to a structure. Consulting with the professionals at Boutte Tree can give you the confidence that you are protecting your investment in your landscape for years to come. We can help you pick out the right species, plant it for your and continue to care for it as it establishes.