Trees play an important role in our environment and in our scenery. Nevertheless, they occasionally require some assistance in order to remain healthy and safe. This is where cabling and support systems for trees come in. Knowledge of why your trees may require support and why they need regular maintenance can make you take more efficient care of them.
Do you have an asymmetrical growing tree in your house, or does it have a branch that is growing in an awkward manner? Assuming your answer is yes, then there is a technique that can be applied to your tree called tree cabling, or as it is otherwise known, tree bracing. Read on to get to know more about what our ISA-certified arborists at Alexa Tree Service can offer you in terms of tree support.
What is Tree Cabling?
Others have the misconception that the cabling of trees involves wrapping a piece of cable around a tree, giving it to have an ugly look. Fortunately, this is not the situation. Professional tree cabling will provide tree support, but in most cases, the cable will be hidden under the canopy of your tree. The bracing of trees, except in very extraordinary instances, is almost not at all noticeable.
Our professional arborists will climb the tree safely up into your problem tree using professional equipment to remove the falling tree branches or those lacking symmetrical growth. Then they make a hole in each of the branches that are to receive a cable. The holes that are sunk are very narrow compared to the size of the cable that is to be used in the cabling of the trees.
After drilling the holes, our certified arborists undertake tree cable installation by inserting the cable into the holes that have been drilled in the tree. To help trees, tree bracing is usually done approximately 2/3 of the distance between the weak section in a branch and its terminus. A stop system is then used to hold the cabling in place.
Tree Cabling Supplies
As seen in the description above, cabling materials that are required to prevent tree splitting are also varied. The following tree cabling supplies are required to be used on any given tree bracing work:
- Professional tree climbing gear, such as ropes, pulleys, and helmets.
- A cordless drill.
- Tree cabling.
- A tree cabling stopping system.
How Much Cabling is Needed to Provide Proper Support?
Each tree requiring tree cabling is unique. It is possible that you have a tree with a single falling branch, and two endpoints of the tree require the drilling and bracing of the tree only. This is the easiest situation in whereby tree bracing is carried out by our qualified arborists.
In case you have several asymmetrical or falling branches, or in instances where you require assistance with falling trees by having tree cable installed, then additional cabling will be required.
Trees are all different, and they have diversified tree support needs. To have an idea of the kind of tree bracing that your tree requires, please contact our certified arborists, who would inspect your tree and give you a personalized quote for the cost.
Tree Cabling Service Cost
The estimate of the cost of tree cabling is hard to make. It is hard to make as a tree bracing job is unique in each case. The considerations that will affect the cost of your tree cabling include:
- What is the number of employees required for the tree bracing job? The greater the number of expert technicians they have to carry out the tree cabling, the higher the tree cabling cost will be.
- What is the number of supplies required to carry out tree bracing and assist in the prevention of falling trees? The larger the job and the more supplies required, the higher the cost of the tree cabling.
- What is the number of branches or the type of trees that need to be braced? The larger the number of branches that will require tree cabling, the more man-hours you will spend on your project, which will influence your cost at the end.
Is Tree Cabling Installation a DIY Project?
You cannot possibly do tree cable installation on your own. It is a highly technical and hazardous job that demands the expertise of a certified arborist, such as the one present in our local Washington area tree services company.
To begin with, when laying the tree cables, you have to climb onto the tree. This is not supposed to be done with a household ladder. Rather, professional climbing cables, Pulleys, and harnesses are used to reach the affected area of your tree. The fact that our Arborists are at a high altitude during the installation of tree cables also makes it an absolute requirement to use professionally-grade helmets when doing tree cabling and bracing.
The tree cabling involves certain knowledge concerning the ways of bracing trees, so that the support material can be installed in the right place. Professional installers obtain special education about how to do cable installation in the trees. This professional knowledge is lacking in the average resident of the Washington and Oregon area.
Lastly, tree cabling involves the use of supplies that are not readily available at the hardware stores. We have high-quality equipment and materials to install cable on trees, which are of professional qualification and bought in specialty stores and wholesalers that offer supplies on tree cabling to certified arborists such as ourselves.
Conclusion
Tree support systems can become necessary to maintain and safeguard your home’s landscaping. It can have both a sentimental and an aesthetic value. Nevertheless, one has to be careful and informed when handling tree cabling. It must always be done by a certified arborist or under his direction to guarantee the well-being of the tree and the security of the environment.
Get in touch with our seasoned experts at Alexa’s Tree Service now to discuss and schedule the only cabling project that your green friends will ever need.
FAQs
Put cables on trees that have weak crotches or heavy canopies that are leaning or cracking after storms.
You need a tree cabling kit with steel cables or synthetic rope, a drill, a wrench set, and safety gear like gloves and a helmet.
Drill holes that are two-thirds of the way up from the crotch, run cables through them, and slowly tighten them to keep them from bending. Allow 1 to 2% movement for dynamic support while keeping an eye on growth over bark.
