North Georgia landscapes damaged by snowfall

Landscapes in north Georgia have been damaged by snowfall in December.

According to a story by Paul Pugliese on the University of Georgia Cooperative Extension website, http://extension.uga.edu/, homeowners are dealing with problems caused by a heavy, wet snowfall that caused vulnerable branches to bend and break.

The report says that standing outside during the snowfall, you could hear tree branches breaking and entire trees shattering from the weight of the snow. Much of the damage was associated with certain defects.

According to the report, one of the most common defects which plays a part in the damage involves very long branches attached vertically rather than horizontally. This is commonly seen on Bradford pear and silver maple trees.

To prevent this type of damage in the future, the extension service recommends avoiding planting trees with the tendency to grow vertical branches near homes or power lines.

The report by Pugliese says pruning in the best way to correct and remove any broken branches or limbs that are bent by snow and ice. Winter is a prime time to prune most plants if they need to be pruned.

In some cases, the open wound created by a broken branch or stem will be too large to heal. In those situations, it may be better to remove the entire tree. Major breaks or wounds to the trunk of a tree will invite other problems and shorten the life of the tree. Nothing can be done to amend these problems after the damage has occurred.

For most broken branches, make a clean cut back to the point of attachment. Whether you do the job yourself or hire a certified arborist, it’s important to make the cut at the proper angle. If you cut too deeply, making a flush cut, then you create a wound that will not close properly. If you cut the branch short, leaving a stub, then the wood will likely rot before the tree can seal off the wound.

The key is to leave the “branch collar” intact when making the cut. Most large branches have a visible swelling near the point of attachment, like the collar of a button-down shirt. Never cut below the collar. If you make the cut at the proper angle, the collar should still be visible. This branch collar is where the tree grows new callus tissue to properly seal off a wound.

This story was originally published December 20, 2017 at 3:56 PM with the headline "North Georgia landscapes damaged by snowfall."