Deadwood

DEADWOOD:

How can you tell if it’s dead when it has no leaves?

by Russell Peters

We are often asked by clients how our crews can tell which limbs are dead and which are alive when the tree has lost its leaves for the winter. It is a good question and as Arborists that observe trees through­out the year, we often take it for granted. There are four primary ways our crews identify deadwood during the dormant season: 1) Often the oldest deadwood, those limbs that may have been dead all season, begins to lose bark and can curl down a bit. 2) Depending on the species of tree, the deadwood begins to discolor, becoming lighter or darker when compared to live limbs. 3) The most reliable means to tell which limbs are alive, is to look for newly formed buds on the ends of the twigs. Buds for the flowers and leaves that will be coming out this spring are formed in the previous fall. Live limbs will take on an appearance of having small bumps along the smallest of twigs while dead limbs do not. 4) Live limbs move differently than dead limbs. When the wind blows, living limbs move with an almost supple movement back and forth while dead limbs have a more rigid movement.

All of these ways of determining what is dead become much easier the closer a tree climber gets to dead and live limbs, as is the case once they are stationed in the tree.

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