If you’re concerned about protecting your trees from lightning, please read along.
Living in an area surrounded by trees can be both breathtakingly beautiful and, at times, a bit worrisome—especially when it comes to the threat of lightning strikes. Larger, taller specimens are naturally more susceptible, of course, and a “direct hit” poses grave risk not just to the stricken tree, but potentially any/all nearby flora, fauna, and property.
If you’re concerned about protecting your trees from lightning, please read along below valuable knowledge on the subject, along with useful tips for ensuring the greatest possible degree of safety and preparedness in such circumstances.
Understanding Lightning Damage to Trees
Damage caused by lightning strikes on trees can vary widely. In some cases, it may be minimal—singed bark, broken branches… However, more severe strikes can lead to outright explosive damage, -almost literally, with the potential for any toppling tree to pose severe risk to its environs, however constituted.
Interestingly enough, initial “combustion” isn’t the only—or even the most pressing—concern: when lightning hits a tree, the water inside it rapidly begins to boil, causing bark to crack or fall off, imperiling structural integrity. The precise extent of this damage depends largely on a given tree’s water content at time of injury along with its overall health/robustness. If your trees are already in poor condition, it’s high time to consider implementing a state-of-the-art arboreal lightning protection system. [More info inbound shortly.]
Areas Prone to Lightning Strikes
Certain locales are far more prone to lightning strikes, concordantly increasing the risk to anything nearby. Such “danger zones” are engendered by nearness to bodies of water, abundantly open spaces, and close proximity to forests. If your property falls into any of these categories, it’s wise to take the utmost precautions to protect your land—and, quite possibly, yourself—from the calamitous cascading fallout inherently possible whenever lightning and tree collide.
Tree Lightning Protection Systems
Thankfully, to bolster your arboreal population against the threat of lightning, you can invest in an extremely effective professional protection system. Such a system utilizes “smart” placement/weaving of high-quality copper cable around any at-risk tree trunks; when lightning strikes, electrical current is “transported” along this cable network to a rod positioned safely distant from any damage risks. The current then disperses into the ground radially, an efficient dual means of threat containment and damage mitigation.
While it may seem like something of an “extreme” measure, this is easily attributable to a certain element of novelty involved (-in the literal, non-pejorative sense); though lightning defense system installation has seen steady growth in recent years, the concept itself is still relatively un(der)known amongst consumers/landowners. Spreading this valuable knowledge is therefore a primary purpose here: installing state-of-the-art lightning protection can save not only your much-loved—not to mention intrinsically valuable—trees, but of far greater import, prevent potential damage to your home and anyone residing therein.
If personally relevant, do make it a priority to consult with a local tree specialist about having your property evaluated for this protective system’s installation, or otherwise with any questions about the process itself or any related phenomena. We’re always here to help.
Assessing and Caring for Lightning-Struck Trees
If a tree on your property has been struck by lightning, it’s crucial to have it examined by an arborist as soon as possible. Even if the tree initially appears unharmed, there may well be internal damage that eventually (yet, as it would seem, “suddenly”) manifests in some degree of disaster.
For your part, pruning the tree and removing any burned or damaged parts—once it’s safe to do so—can certainly help promote its recovery. This’ll also prevent pests from entering any “dead” areas and transmitting disease to an already-weakened organism. Additionally, you can meaningfully assist in its recovery by diligently ensuring that the tree receives adequate regular watering—absolutely critical to the healing process.
Tree Care and Maintenance from Harford Tree
Ready to have the beautiful yard you have always dreamed of? Harford Tree Experts & Landscaping, Inc has been in the business for decades, providing customers with quality work and quick responses all at the right price. We service the areas of Harford County, Baltimore County, Baltimore City areas including Bel Air, Fallston, Perry Hall, Towson, Essex, Parkville, White Marsh and Middle River.
For service during business hours, reach out to us or give us a call at 410-592-7321. We offer 24/7 emergency service as well, just give us a call at 443-250-6649. For updates about our business and more informative tips, follow us on Facebook and Twitter.