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Ice Storm Tree Damage

With wild winter weather, you may worry if your trees will bear the brunt of ice storm tree damage. How likely is it that your trees may become damaged in a winter storm? If your tree has already been damaged, what do you do now?

If you’re looking for advice on ice storm tree removal in Toronto or tree damage after a winter wind, snow or ice storm, read on.

Ice Damage to Trees

Can snow and ice really damage tree limbs? Trees are made to stand up to nature, right? And usually, they do, but even in the wild, snow and ice can cause damage to trees. Urban trees are often starting out weaker due to lack of space, light, or soil nutrients. This can make them more vulnerable to winter storm damage.

Exceptional weather like heavy ice or snow and sudden temperature shifts from rain to freezing temperatures lead to extra stress on trees. Ice may build up quickly in some conditions. Winter storms are frequently accompanied by high winds, which can also cause limb breakage. Freeze-thaw cycles can also cause damage to tree bark.

How Much Ice Damages a Tree Limb?

Thick ice on tree branches during snowfall at night with a streetlight in the backgroun

So is there a specific amount of ice you should worry about? Unfortunately, we can’t tell you that if the forecast says 10 mm of precipitation your trees will be fine and you should start to worry at 25 mm. Generally, bigger storms cause more damage. If ice or snow on a branch is heavier, particularly thick ice and heavy wet snow, it’s more likely to damage a branch.

Trees that are already weaker are the most vulnerable. Newly planted young trees can be especially vulnerable in their first years, as can mature trees that are already suffering from damage or breakage. Trees of any age that have recently gone through a pest or fungal infestation are vulnerable as well.

However, the vast majority of trees come out of winter storms unscathed. It’s much more common for trees to lose a couple of small branches and twigs in high winds or ice storms. If this is the case, you can safely collect these branches from the ground yourself, as long as there are no larger broken or dangling limbs or falling ice.

Ice Storm Tree Removal

Some trees will meet their match in a winter storm. Winds, ice, and snow can cause large limbs and branches to break and fall, or trees to partially or fully fall down. If it’s already too late for your tree, call an arborist!

Not all arborists work year round, but many do, including Vista Tree! Arborists are available for all your winter emergency work. In some cases, they’ll be able to send a crew right away to deal with a problem like a tree fell on your house.

Tree and branch removals can be done year-round. If a storm is particularly bad or lengthy, we may need to wait for the weather to improve before we can safely do winter storm cleanup and removals. This can vary depending on the urgency of the problem and the weather.

How to Protect Trees from Ice Storms

Of course, the best way to avoid ice storm damage to trees is to prevent it from happening in the first place. None of us can predict or stop Mother Nature, but we can give our trees the best chance against it!

Keeping your trees strong and healthy means regular maintenance like annual pruning. This will remove and reduce weak or broken branches. Having an arborist prune your tree also lets them catch other undetected issues that could be treated. That can include weak limbs or early or hard to spot infestations. Fertilizing your trees in fall, spring, or both helps restore nutrients and strengthens tree growth over the next growing season. 

For young trees and thin-barked trees, tree wrapping can help protect tree bark in the winter. This minimizes the chance of bark damage down the road.

If you’re looking to protect from wind damage and ice damage to trees for next winter, it’s not too early to book in winter pruning or spring fertilizer and plant treatment services. If you have urgent emergency winter storm tree work, check out our contact information page today to fill out a request or for our emergency line.

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Cheryl Cooke
09/05/2023
James responded quickly to my request for a quote and he and his crew did an extremely professional job with perfect cleanup. I would recommend these guys in a heartbeat. James is an excellent communicator and a pleasure to work with. Thanks for giving my garden a great jump on Spring.
Lawrence Tavers
17/04/2023
James and Michael have been the best arborists I’ve ever dealt with. First off, they were friendly and professional. They didn’t just throw out a number, they went through the job and what needed to be done and what didn’t and gave me a reasonable price. On the day, the crew came and did a fantastic job. It was a hard one but they made it look easy. And the clean up was perfect, my yard looked better than it did before they came. They’re my go to from now on.
Johnathan Melnick
15/04/2023
I got two trees removed for a renovation project, and vista was on it right from the start. Report came through right away, permits right after but then due to some cost over runs I had to delay for 4 months and hold off on the removals until last month. Trees came down so well, crew was really professional. They left the site looking CLEAN and thats saying a lot as it had a lot of builder garbage around .stump grinding happened right away. James and Mike went above and beyond to manage this and help me out when the unexpected happened. Definitely recommend.
Ronald Romick
13/04/2023
Very professional work. We are very satisfied with the quality of the work done. We would recommend Vista 100 percent. Great quality, performance and professional.
John Rydzkowski
04/04/2023
I had James and his crew cut down and remove my 40'+ blue spruce before the wind blew it over. There was an urgency in getting the work done and they were there for me. They were very professional, worked safely and cleaned up when they were finished. They also showed me proof of insurance and WSIB which is very important as a home owner. I'm happy to recommend them to anyone. Thanks 😊
Marlee Pinsker
28/03/2023
Vista Tree Management came to our house and did a wonderful job helping to protect the roof from squirrel damage. James walked around the perimeter of the house with me and pointed out every tree branch that might possibly be the instrument of a squirrel finding its way to the roof. He then set up a time, came over promptly, and in short time cut down many tree limbs and branches. He consulted with me about whether anything else needed to be done, and when I pointed out one last branch, he cut it down. I feel I have finally found a tree service which has the knowledge and expertise to help with my property. My husband and I are more than satisfied! The staff at Vista Tree Management were so very helpful.
Kristian Alexander Kennedy
15/02/2023
We had the pleasure of working with Vista recently and we could not have asked for better service. We have a small apple tree and hedge in our front yard that we wanted pruned. As part of the quote, we had also requested that some time be spent with us as the pruning occurred so that we could learn how to properly care for our garden going forward. James was prompt, responsive and incredibly thorough. He completed the tasks exactly as we had discussed and as was quoted. He was patient and spent lots of time teaching us the various pruning methods that he was utilizing. Not only does he have excellent attention to detail while pruning, but he also takes great care in cleaning up all the plant debris once he was finished the job. We can’t thank him enough for the excellent service provided. We will be sure to reach out to Vista for all of our future pruning/landscaping needs. Thanks James.
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