On a recent walk in the cemetery near our office, I came upon a downed tree. Remarkably, I took a picture of the same tree 4 days ago and it looked fine. But unknown to me at the time, rot was lurking in a poor crotch angle.
The tree, a Callery Pear,
Callery Pears, an invasive tree are notorious for week crotch angles.
This particular pear showed little signs of decay until the trunk came apart.
Rot had taken hold in the center of the tree. Typically, a strong wind will reveal faults in the tree, and a branch or the whole tree will come down.
Last year, in Norwalk, a large storm took down a large tree
and toppled evergreens.
Several years ago, a strong storm blew through Perry Township in Northeast Ohio and blew this huge maple directly onto this van.
The key is, if you are not sure if a tree is safe, call a certified Arborist. International Society of Arboriculture, (ISA)
has a tool on their website to Find an Arborist:
https://www.treesaregood.org/findanarborist
In addition, ISA certified arborists can also carry the TRAQ certification, which stands for Tree Risk Assessment Qualification.
They know if a tree is safe.
When in doubt, call a professional / certified Arborist!
