Last night we had a humdinger of a monsoon storm in Phoenix. As the evening approached we could see some good dark storm clouds gathering. We figured that we would get at least a little storm action. When I went to the church at about 9 for volleyball and it was really windy. There were leaves swirling around and the air was filled with the desert dust. The trees were bending and twisting in the wind and I could feel the occasional tugs on the car as I drove. When I left the church an hour later I was pleased to see that everything was wet and that it was still raining. I could tell it had rained pretty hard because the runoff in the gutters flowed out into the streets. As I turned onto our road I saw a huge piece of tree in the road. As I parked the car I realized it was a big part of our tree! As I took a closer look there were several large branches on the road and on our lawn. It was still raining and lightning activity was high - but we did walk out and pull the biggest branches from the road and onto our lawn.
This morning we took a closer look. And our poor tree! The tree by the second bedroom window lost at least two large branches and quite a few smaller ones. The wind must have just whipped by and snapped the top one off. I think that one probably fell down and caused the lower branch to snap off too. The biggest piece will take a couple of people to move. We were pretty luck the wind was blowing from the southeast. The branches could have easily fallen onto our house or our neighbors house had the winds been blowing to the east instead.
Well now I wonder what to do about the tree. I hope it will continue to be healthy - but when branches break off does that let the bugs in and vital fluids leak out? I don't know. Maybe Shanna, our family expert, will know. Either way Dad gets off pretty easy. He got up early this morning and did a little more street cleanup. He swept some debris off the road and moved a couple of minor pieces off of the road. He leaves for work in just a few minutes and then has a weekend outing with the boys to hike Mt. Humphreys. So who do you think will get to do the cleanup? The names rhymes with hairy! Anyway, that is my account of the big wind.
1 comment:
Yes, the place where your branch broke off is more likely to get infected with bugs or disease. Your best bet to reduce the likelihood of infection is to make a clean cut so the tree can seal off (heal) the wound more easily. Here is a guide to how to make a proper pruning cut: http://www.cityofalbany.net/parks/urbanforestry/img/pruningdiag_s.jpg
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