Trees may be Earth’s most valuable resource. They provide woods to build our homes and buildings, and they are also harvested to make things like paper, mulch and firewood. Of course, they bear fruit and nuts to feed billions of people.
However, there is a time to grow and maintain trees and a time to cut them down. Let’s look at eight reasons to cut down trees and get the job done before winter sets in.
1. Snow and Winter Weather
This depends a lot on the local climate. In northern areas with a lot of snow and where the ground freezes deep and hard, cutting trees before winter sets in is essential. Trying to cut down a tree while standing in three feet of snow is not easy. Also, the stump and some footage above it will have to remain for spring thaw to get the rest removed.
2. Safety
Some trees can pose a significant danger if they are near a home or some other structure. Often, removing them is the best course of action to protect people, pets and property even if the tree is still viable. Heavy snow and ice make trees more likely to fall or drop heavy branches.
3. Because They’re Dead
Trees that are dead pose even greater risks than healthy trees. People are injured or sometimes killed when dead or dying trees drop large branches or succumb to wind. Again, doing it before winter makes the job much easier to get done completely. Dead trees are more dangerous in winter.
4. Aesthetics
There are cases where too many trees can be too much of a good thing. To landscape property and open up pleasing spaces, cutting down trees is called for. Removing dead trees is a way to eliminate dreary eyesores in a particular location.
5. Fire Prevention
Every summer, the news headlines are filled with stories of large outbreaks of forest fires that can destroy entire communities and lead to tragic deaths. Cutting down trees, especially the older ones, decreases the amount of branches and dried fallen wood that fuels fires.
6. Environmental Concerns
Trees are essential for a healthy environment, but dead trees contribute to climate change and other problems. That’s because dead wood rots and releases carbon into the atmosphere. If the dead wood is cleared and sequestered underground, the carbon will also be sequestered.
7. Prevent Tree Disease from Spreading
Many healthy trees and a lot of dead or dying trees can become infested with certain types of insects that thrive and spread from tree to tree. Identifying infected trees and cutting them down before winter means fewer trees next spring can be infected.
8. Eliminate the Competition
Trees provide shade. That’s a lovely thing, but if that shade prevents other plants you want to grow on your property, you may have to either trim the branches to open up some sunshine or cut the tree down. Also, pine trees are known for dropping large amounts of pine needles on the ground. Pine needles are high in acid and will prevent just about anything else from growing underneath, including other trees.