
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, March 4, 1994                   TAG: 9403040108
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: A-3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: GREG EDWARDS STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

ICE NOT ONLY HAZARD FOR STORM-TORN TREES

After the weather warms and the ice melts, many Western Virginia homeowners are going to be left with the task of dealing with tree damage from the winter's ice storms.

"Probably the first thing that needs to be done is the trees need to be pruned; and a lot need to be heavily pruned, depending on the damage," said James Johnson, an extension forester at Virginia Tech.

To help prevent an attack by insects or disease, broken limbs need to be trimmed back to the trunk or the limb from which they are growing, Johnson said.

The pruning cuts should be clean and smooth. But in pruning damaged limbs, one should be careful to leave the branch collar and not trim the the limb back flush with the trunk or other limb, Johnson said.

The branch collar, the thick area at the base of a branch, contains the cells that will grow over the wound and help it heal, he explained.

The cement or paint that some people put on damaged trees is solely a cosmetic undertaking, Johnson said. The best thing a person can do to help a tree heal after pruning is leave it alone, he said.

It's sometimes hard to tell whether to prune a damaged tree or cut it down entirely, Johnson said. Hardwood trees will produce new branches, but the trees will not look the same as before they were damaged.

The conditions for heavy tree damage were all present during this week's storm, Johnson said.

Trees were weakened from the last storm. The ground was wet, and roots were looser. Branches were heavily loaded with ice, and hard winds came when the ice was still on the trees.

by CNB