Warning: A park ranger in Olympia told me their old elm was 'too far gone' for cabling

We were chatting about a big American elm in the park, and he said they stopped trying to cable it after a big storm last fall because the decay was too deep in the main union. It made me wonder if we sometimes try to save trees that are just past the point of safe support. How do you decide when a tree is truly a lost cause for structural work?

3 comments

3 Comments

linda_dixon4911d ago

Totally get what that ranger means. Saw a huge silver maple in my neighbor's yard that had a crack you could fit your hand into. The arborist just shook his head and said any cable would rip right through the spongy wood left inside. It's a tough call, but sometimes the tree is just telling you it's done. We had to take it down before the next big wind, and it was sad, but you can't fight physics.

tessa_murray11d ago

Yeah that "spongy wood" thing is the real giveaway. It's like when you keep trying to fix something that's just worn out, like an old phone with a dying battery. At some point you gotta listen to what it's telling you.

the_jana11d ago

But sometimes that spongy wood is just a small pocket.