What causes this
- Thread starter bartman23
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Not sure. My inlaw’s had a white ash just like that. They thought it was hollow so we took it down. It was cracked from one side right to the heartwood but otherwise solid.
lindnova
ArboristSite Operative
Lightening damage.
There's an ash tree in my neighbor's yard right next to my yard and a few years ago I was pretty sure it was hit by lightning. There was a real close strike and the next day that tree had a limb laying on the ground. Over the last year it has developed a large split all the way down the trunk.
Jakers
Owner - Arbor Jake's Tree Service, LLC
Frost will also crack the trees like that. once its started they sometimes never heal over
I thought about frost cracking too, but that's not going to cause that exploded trunk in the one pic. Both lightning and frost cracking can look the same as the other pic though.
What part of Canada are you from?If you live in a part of Canada where winter temps.go really low and stay low for a few days /nights freeze cracks will occur.The cracks could be from a lightning strike but I think it would have to be a secondary strike (one that's already hit the ground and traveled to the tree and lost a lot of power.)I have seen black cherry,poplar and pine get hit and the tree just EXPLODES from the water in the tree turning to steam with no place to go.
Lightning can be direct or indirect and either can kill the tree and do damage like this. The indirect is much weaker than a direct hit which can blow branches off, split the tree in several directions or even blow it right out of the ground and/or set it on fire. Both direct and indirect can be deadly, but surprisingly, indirect lightning can cause an instant death because the tree can be hit a dozen or more tomes during the same storm. In short, it electrocutes the tree.
My pin oak tree had a full crown in December and was killed in March, likely from indirect lightening that hit it during a freak early March storm this past spring. Here's what it looked like in mid-April:
Not a single branch is alive, no buds produced any leaves, and the tree was healthy for 37 years. I planted it. There is no indication of any direct lightning hit anywhere, but the ruling is that indirect jolts electrocuted it. The tree will be cut down next month. It was the tallest pin oak in the neighborhood, about 50 feet.
My pin oak tree had a full crown in December and was killed in March, likely from indirect lightening that hit it during a freak early March storm this past spring. Here's what it looked like in mid-April:
Not a single branch is alive, no buds produced any leaves, and the tree was healthy for 37 years. I planted it. There is no indication of any direct lightning hit anywhere, but the ruling is that indirect jolts electrocuted it. The tree will be cut down next month. It was the tallest pin oak in the neighborhood, about 50 feet.
Ash are prone to breaking off like that. We have several on the farm that have gone down, snapped in half, by high winds. Lightning strikes usually leave a stripe/strip of bark running from the strike to the ground. The ones we have show no sign of lightning strikes just snap off . My BIL heard this one cracking and watched it go over.
Well, as you can see from my pin oak Pic, there are no lightning streaks. Indirect lightning apparently may not be strong enough to streak the tree with scars, knock it down, or even break off a branch, but it will electrocute it anyway. It kind of gives you the creeps -- healthy in late December, killed in March. no other sign of destruction.
Thanks for the replies guys looked into it and I believe it to be frost cracks. -40 isn't uncommon here. Most of the trees seem to be healed over but obviously it created a week spot in that rather tall small diameter tree. It came down in high wind storm.
