What Should Businesses Do With Storm-Damaged Trees?
What Should Businesses Do With Storm-Damaged Trees?
Strong winds and severe weather can leave commercial properties with broken branches, damaged crowns and unstable trees.
Knowing what to do after a storm can help businesses, estates and landowners keep sites accessible while ensuring damaged trees are assessed and managed safely.
What Should Businesses Do With Storm-Damaged Trees?
Storm damage is not always immediately obvious. A fallen tree is difficult to miss, but cracked limbs, weakened unions and partially damaged crowns can remain standing after severe weather. For commercial properties, these problems can be particularly important where trees surround car parks, access roads, buildings, footpaths or working areas. A damaged tree may also restrict access or interfere with normal business operations. Branching Out provides professional commercial tree services throughout Scotland, helping businesses and landowners manage trees safely across a wide range of commercial environments.
Check The Area Before Clearing Debris
Following a storm, the immediate temptation may be to begin clearing fallen branches. However, visible debris on the ground does not necessarily represent the full extent of the damage. Branches can remain suspended within the canopy, trunks may have developed cracks and trees can sometimes become unstable at root level. These hazards can make working underneath or immediately around the tree dangerous. Where significant damage has occurred, restricting access to the affected area until the tree can be professionally assessed is the safer approach.
Can A Storm-Damaged Tree Be Saved?
Storm damage does not automatically mean that a tree needs to be felled. The appropriate solution depends on the extent and location of the damage, the condition of the remaining tree and the potential risk posed to its surroundings. In some cases, removing damaged limbs and carrying out appropriate pruning may allow the tree to be retained. More seriously compromised trees may require partial dismantling or complete removal. Trees beside buildings, roads or other infrastructure can often be removed progressively where there is insufficient space for conventional felling. Branching Out's commercial tree felling services provide professional tree removal for commercial sites throughout Scotland.
Keeping Roads And Commercial Access Clear
Storm-damaged trees can quickly become an operational problem when they affect entrances, internal roads, parking areas or routes used by machinery and delivery vehicles. For estates and larger commercial sites, fallen trees can also restrict access to sections of land that need to remain operational. Prioritising these areas allows essential access to be restored while wider tree work is planned. Where storms have affected numerous trees or larger areas of vegetation, clearance may form part of a broader commercial land clearance project.
What Happens To Fallen Trees And Branches?
Storm clearance can generate significant quantities of timber and woody material, but this does not necessarily need to be treated as waste. Suitable larger stems may have potential for processing into usable timber. Branching Out's mobile saw milling service allows suitable felled timber to be processed on-site rather than automatically removed or chipped. Branches, smaller timber and other woody material can also be processed using biomass chipping, helping make productive use of material generated during clearance. This forms part of Branching Out's wider commitment to recycling and repurposing materials generated through its arboricultural work.
Don't Wait Until The Next Storm
Storm damage can also highlight problems that existed beforehand. Dead branches, declining trees and structural weaknesses may become considerably more problematic when exposed to high winds. Regular commercial tree management can identify some of these issues before severe weather exposes them. This is particularly valuable where mature trees stand alongside areas regularly used by employees, customers, vehicles or members of the public. Based in Fife, Branching Out works with commercial clients locally and throughout Scotland, providing professional tree management, felling, clearance and timber-processing services.
Dealing With Storm-Damaged Trees?
Contact Branching Out for professional assessment, tree removal and commercial clearance services across Fife and throughout Scotland. Request A Quote >
About Branching Out
Based in Fife, Branching Out delivers tree surgery, hedge trimming, stump grinding, land clearance and commercial arboricultural services throughout Scotland. Learn more >
