Sycamore damaged in hurricane

[resident86]

Hey everyone. My first post here...hope I did everything right.

My family just got through Hurricane Dennis. It bulldozed through town and did a lot of damage, especially to our very tall sycamore tree (and our house!) Here's a little background information on the tree: it's about fifteen to twenty years old and was topped in Hurricane Opal, causing the branches to spread out on the top and such.

It was topped again in this recent storm, sending about twenty to thirty feet of tree straight into our house. So, I have some questions. (I'm not a smart tree person, so please forgive me if the questions are stupid.)

1. What do you guys think we should do with this tree? One "tree expert" said that in two years, you wouldn't be able to tell that it was damaged. But, even though it has been ten years since Opal, you could always tell that the tree was damaged.

2. Why was it damaged like this? Ten months ago, we were hit by a far stronger hurricane: Ivan, and the tree made it through fine, with only a few large branches down.

3. How can we prevent this from happening again?

4. How is the tree going to react? After Ivan, the tree was completely bare and the leaves regrew. However, the leaves weren't completely shredded this time.

I don't know how to attach pictures or anything, so here are links to pictures of the tree:

top damage

close up of top damage

shot of entire tree

for the curious: what fell

Please forgive the size of the pictures and poor quality. Any suggestion/comments are needed and appreciated. I love my tree and hope that we won't have to take it down or anything. Thank you everyone very much. (I dearly hope that I did everything right too.)

~ Stef

 

[Ekka]

Stef,

Each storm is unique and brings with it its own characteristics.

Perhaps this time the wind was in a different direction or swirling, perhaps the tree had grown some or was heavy in the foliage due to good moisture availablity at the roots ... nature is weird but lets move on to your tree's treatment.

Correct pruning will assist the tree in compartmentalizing the damage done. Perhaps some formative pruning may assist with future development of what is left, but judging by the pics there is a good future ahead of the tree.

Sure it will never be exactly the same, but unique in it's own way, a few battle scars if you choose.

Sometimes when the top gets broken out like that a lower branch tries to replace the main trunk ... it grows more vertical and becomes the new leader. Really, you need an arborist to remedial and formative prune to get it back to some order, the tree will survive ... and it would sure take a while for a new one to grow that big.

 

[Kneejerk Bombas]

The good thing is it is shorter and won't catch so much wind when Emily blows through in a few days.

 

[Dadatwins]

Your pictures came through fine, better than some 1000 + post members here Hope no one was injured in the storm and damage was minimal to property. As for tree, looks like it will need some corrective pruning to get its shape back and get itself re-established. Need to get that top rip cut properly so tree can start re-growth process. No telling why it made it through last time and was walloped this time. Wind shear, different angle/direction of wind all factors. Check the link below and contact local arborist. Get several estimates and ask questions about how the work will be done before signing up for the work. Unfortunalty because of the storm cleanup you may have to wait awhile to get someone out there. Be cautious about the many storm chasers that have probably descended on your area after the storm. Some might be qualified, but many more just there for the quick $$$. Good luck.

http://www.treesaregood.com/treecare/hire_arborist.asp