Hurricane and ice-storm season in Eastern North Carolina tends to bring down the same kinds of trees, in the same ways. If you know what to look for, you can deal with the risky ones on a calm day instead of after they've landed on something.
Tall pines
Loblolly pines grow fast and tall, and they're everywhere around here. In a hurricane, heavy rain soaks the ground, the root plate loosens, and a strong gust can snap the trunk or lift the whole tree. The pines to watch are the ones that could reach your house if they fell, especially if they're already leaning or standing alone after neighboring trees were cleared.
Water oaks
Water oaks are quick to grow and quick to decline. By middle age many are rotting inside, often with no obvious sign until a big limb or the whole top comes down. Mushrooms at the base, cavities, and dead limbs in the upper crown are all warning signs.
Bradford pears
Their branches all grow from nearly the same point on the trunk, so as the tree gets bigger it tends to split apart, often in the first strong wind or ice. They're also spreading into fields and roadsides, and many people in North Carolina are replacing them with native trees.
Pecans
Old pecans are beautiful, but their wood is brittle, and large limbs break in wind and especially under ice. A deadwood trim every few years goes a long way on a big pecan near the house.
Warning signs on any tree
Dead branches, especially large ones over the roof or driveway. A lean that's getting worse, or soil cracking and lifting on one side. Deep cracks, splits between main stems, or cavities in the trunk. Fungus or mushrooms at the base or on the trunk. Bark falling away, or a tree that leafs out late and thin.
If you see any of these on a tree that could hit something important, it's worth having someone look at it.
What to do before storm season
Walk your yard in late spring or early summer and look up. Have dead limbs taken out and branches lifted off the roof. Deal with the trees that worry you most while you can schedule it, rather than waiting until a storm is in the forecast and every crew in the county is booked.
We'll walk the yard with you for free and tell you honestly which trees are fine, which need a trim, and which should come down.