Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, June 10, 1993 TAG: 9306090352
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Ray Reed
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
A: Hundreds, if not thousands, of people have asked these questions since last Friday's storms.
The owner of the damaged car or house pays for the repairs, or his/her insurance does.
The neighbor who owns the tree didn't cause it to fall; the wind did. The tree owner isn't negligent as long as the tree was alive.
This answer is the consensus of several insurance agents and lawyers.
If the tree were dead, and you had asked the neighbor to remove it before the storm, you might have a claim against the neighbor. But that's iffy; the circumstances will vary in each case - depending, for example, on the number of live limbs vs. dead limbs on the tree.
The issues can get complicated if parts of a useful tree are lying across both sides of a property line.
Does the owner have to clean up all of it? Or just the part up to the line? Can the neighbor saw it into firewood and sell it back to the owner?
The sources weren't unanimous, but Roanoke lawyer Brad Fitzgerald researched these points and concluded that if the original owner wants the wood, he should say so and clean it up himself.
Otherwise he may be surrendering his claim.
Tree care
Q: How should I prune the limbs of my trees that were broken in the storm? Is it a good idea to try to save a tree that was pushed over and partly uprooted? Various readers
A: The basic snapped-off limb should be cut cleanly at the collar where it joins the trunk, and left to heal. Paints or sealants are no longer recommended for the wound because they can trap moisture and cause decay, says the Virginia Cooperative Extension Service.
If a limb is cracked but not broken off, the crack may heal if it's along the direction of growth. Trim away loose bark so water won't collect behind it.
If a tree separates at a fork in the trunk, it may survive if more than 50 percent of the trunk was left standing. Remove fragments cleanly.
For trees that were partially uprooted, chances of survival are pretty good if the tree was no more than 5 or 6 years old. Pull the tree upright and use guy wires to hold it for at least a year.
After age 6, a tree's survival depends on how many roots were broken, and no one can tell you that. It's your judgment call.
These answers were provided by John Arbogast of Virginia Cooperative Extension in Roanoke.
Got a question about something that might affect other people too? Something you've come across and wondered about? Give us a call at 981-3118. Maybe we can find the answer.
by CNB