One Tree at a Time Ellsworth couple shares their knowledge about repairing the hardest-hit victims of January’s ice storm

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“The air was filled for hours with the rifle report of snapping branches followed by the crash of ice-laden branches smashing to the ground.”

That line from a publication on trees and ice storms could have described much of Maine 10 weeks ago. But it doesn’t.

Try Valentine’s Day 1990 in Urbana, Ill., when a severe ice storm damaged 26 percent of the city’s parkway trees. Five percent required removal or repair.

Maine’s numbers dwarf those figures: 11.3 million acres of forest affected by the storm with 6.5 million acres sustaining moderate to severe damage.

For property owners, those numbers don’t ease the pain when their own trees have been shorn of limbs. Nancy C. and Douglas N. Johnson’s 20-acre wood lot in Ellsworth near Bald Mountain is testament to that.

The photograph in Nancy’s hand tells the story: A perfect fan-shaped maple tree is outlined on a backdrop of blue skies and deep-red blueberry barrens. A glance up toward the lone tree shows a jagged profile against the cold March sky and snow-covered hill.

The other ice damage around the property is starkly evident. An old sugar maple at the top of the driveway has huge rips in the crown’s limbs, its raw wounds dripping icicles of sap. A windbreak of young pines is still bent eastward. A seemingly sturdy red oak with twin crowns is now missing one half, a deep pile of smaller limbs littering the ground below. Above the field, the forested hillside is a disaster — scores of trees sheared off with only the trunks still standing.

For the Johnsons, owners of Johnson’s Arboriculture in Camden, recovery from this kind of devastation comes one tree at a time.

Homeowners, already overwhelmed with the cleanup, may feel daunted in finding the best method to save wounded trees, but in many cases it can be done. “Start near around the house with the trees [you] love the most and work out,” Nancy Johnson said.

“One hundred percent of the time people want to know if the tree can be repaired,” said Douglas Johnson, an arborist since 1973. Full removal can be done into summertime, he said, but the window of opportunity to save the trees is narrowing.

Pruning should be done up until May 1, about the time spring growth kicks in. “If you miss it, you’ve missed it,” he said.

“Rot will start where the break is,” Johnson said. If the break is removed and a smooth cut remains, the tree will compartmentalize — or close off — the wound over a period of time.

Pruning a tree may seem a difficult task, but it needn’t be. The first requirement is proper equipment, including a hard hat, safety goggles and pruning shears for small branches. For larger limbs, use a tricut handsaw, not a chain saw. “It’s much safer for homeowners to be up in a ladder with,” Nancy Johnson said.

The Johnsons recommend a three-point ladder, theirs a Maine-made apple ladder from Peter Baldwin in Brooks. This easel-shaped wooden ladder provides stability that four-point stepladders don’t have on uneven ground.

Apple ladder in hand, Douglas Johnson strode into the field of nursery stock to a wild cherry tree about 22 years old. Ice damage had bent a couple of limbs. A close inspection revealed splintering, a sign that pruning was indeed necessary.

After tying his safety line around the tree, Johnson made his first cut with the handsaw about two feet out from where the final cut would be, a move that should prevent any more damage farther down the limb. His last cut was the most important, taking into consideration the angle of the branch — called a lateral — nearest the cut.

With a smooth swipe of the saw, Johnson cut parallel to the lateral branch, which will now provide the new growth.

How well heavily damaged trees will recover even after being pruned is still a great unknown, according to licensed forester Kirby Ellis of Hudson. “It’s going to be a wait-and-see kind of thing,” he said.

Much will depend on the weather. A dry summer will cause problems, he said, and a cold winter will put additional stress on trees that might not have enough crown to support the root system and the remaining part of the tree.

Over time, trees that are losing the battle will have visible warning signs. Small leaves or leaves appearing late in spring are two indications, Ellis said, and trees that lose their leaves early are another. Woodpeckers attracted to damaged trees and feasting on insects are a sure symptom of the tree’s failing health.

Ellis, who teaches forestry at Foxcroft Academy, says the average homeowner should call in professional help to tend severely damaged trees simply because it is too dangerous.

That warning includes another hazard, bent birches. The ice storm’s duration meant that the birches were weighted down and sometimes buried in the snow for an extended period. Many remain bent even without the snow and ice. “Probably they’ll come up, it’s really not known,” Ellis said.

Cutting down a bent tree is extremely dangerous because it could unexpectedly snap. “There’s still a lot of tension in the tree,” Ellis said. A birch that won’t recover is one that has splintered at the bend, Douglas Johnson said.

Hardwoods, such as maple and oak, that have to be cut down may send up new shoots from the healthy roots. If that happens, Johnson said, the sturdiest shoot should be nurtured and pruned. The goal is to keep a single top and not allow a forked top that is susceptible to breakage.

Trees are much like people, Nancy Johnson said. Vigorous trees and young trees likely will bounce back more quickly. In addition to pampering, any badly damaged tree, like the Johnsons’ lone maple, requires time.

“It needs a rest period while it heals,” she said.

Nurturing Damaged Trees

Caring for damaged trees is more than just using proper pruning techniques.

Should I fertilize?

Resist the urge to fertilize around the tree. Fertilizer stimulates growth, say Nancy C. and Douglas N. Johnson of Johnson’s Arboriculture, and the tree needs a rest period to seal its wounds.

One of the new recommendations is the use of bark mulch, which mimics the conditions of the forest floor, which is rich in decaying matter that provides nutrients to the tree.

Douglas Johnson says remove sod from under the tree, even as far from the trunk as the drip line of the outermost branches, and gently aerate the soil. Top with no more than 3 inches of bark mulch — he prefers pine that is a rich brown, a sign it has been composted — and keep it at least two inches away from the trunk. Any closer and it becomes a breeding ground for diseases. Any deeper and the roots, which are mainly within the first 18 inches of soil, will suffocate.

The Johnsons also use a special inoculation for damaged trees. Research shows that in the forest, tree roots have a symbiotic relationship with mycorrhizal fungi, which have been found to increase the size and number of roots, to help break down unusable nutrients and then aid in the amount of nutrient absorption. In return, the tree provides food for the fungi.

To get the fungi to the roots, Douglas Johnson said, holes are drilled about 18 inches deep throughout the root zone and then the liquid containing the fungi is poured in.

Should I use a wound dressing?

Most material on pruning and tree care recommends against the use of wound dressing because it can trap moisture between it and the tree. The moisture will cause rot.

Whom to call for help.

The University of Maine Cooperative Extension has more information on pruning techniques for all types of trees and shrubs. Call 581-3188 or 1-800-287-0274.

To find an arborist in your region, look under “Tree” in the phone book’s Yellow Pages.

If you decide to hire professional help for your trees, remember to check for a license, which can be verified through the Maine Arborist Board at 624-8603. Make sure the arborist has liability insurance. Ask for references and shop around for free estimates.

— Janine Pineo

Planting for strength

Some tree species are less likely to suffer damage in severe ice storms.

A variety of factors influence a tree’s strength, but a general rule is that fast-growing species are the worst hit because the wood is brittle.

Licensed forester Kirby Ellis says willow, poplar, quaking aspen, ash, dogwood and silver maple were more damaged in the January ice storm because they are among the fast-growing species, many with life spans averaging only 25 to 30 years.

With the exception of slow-growing yellow birch, birch species are pliable enough to bend, although their ultimate recovery remains questionable.

Slow-growing trees with life spans of more than 100 years include:

Sugar, red and Norway maples.

Beech.

Flowering crab.

Oaks.

Ellis said ornamental trees tended to sustain more damage than forest trees because they have more horizontal growth and none of the support present in forest stands. Softwoods sustained less damage than hardwoods, and many evergreens easily withstood the heavy loads of ice.

With forest evergreens mostly undamaged, concerns about increased fire danger this summer were somewhat abated in the industry, arborist Douglas N. Johnson said. The threat is “not feared as bad.”

It’s anybody’s guess what the fall foliage season will be like.

— Janine Pineo