Trees can take a lot of punishment in a storm and still recover if they're pruned or replanted properly, experts say.
Even trees that have been partially uprooted can be saved if they're small enough, said Teresa Gustafson, the new tree care specialist for the city of La Grande.
"Trees don't heal from a wound like people do, but, if pruned properly, a tree will grow over an injury," she said.
But poor pruning may cause more damage to a tree than a winter storm, Gustafson said.
Oregon Department of Forestry experts agree. They say that more trees become damaged as a result of improper cleanup than are damaged directly by a storm.
Topping a tree is a bad choice - causing weak regrowth and possibly creating an entry wound for future disease, foresters say.
They say many of Oregon's older landscape trees still bear the scars of being topped or improperly pruned as an overreaction to the Columbus Day storm of 1962.
Often, a storm can remove the weakest limbs from trees and all that is needed is a clean pruning cut and to clear away debris, said Paul Ries, an urban forester with the Oregon Department of Forestry.
Topping creates future headaches rather than eliminating them because a previously topped tree is much more likely to break or uproot in a storm than a tree that has a normal branch structure.
Many people are unaware that trees typically lack deep tap roots and may only go 2 or 3 feet down, Gustafson said.
If a large tree is weakened by poor pruning, has had the roots disturbed or severed and the soil is compacted, all those conditions can cause a tree to uproot in high winds.
It is more likely, however, that downed trees have snapped off due to a weak spot where internal rot or disease has entered the tree - often through a previous break or poor pruning, Gustafson said.
Gustafson and state foresters recommend calling a certified arborist to assess tree damage and pruning options.Associated Press via The Statesman Journal
