Spring in the DC area means longer days, blooming cherry blossoms — and storm season. With the arrival of March and April rains, high winds and heavy downpours can take a toll on even the healthiest trees. While trees add beauty, value, and shade to your property, they can also pose a risk if they’re damaged or unstable.

At Titan Tree Care, we want to help you get ahead of storm season. Here’s how to protect your trees — and your home — before the next storm hits.

1. Start with a Tree Risk Assessment

Before you can protect your trees, you need to know what condition they’re in. A certified arborist can evaluate your trees for:

• Structural weakness (like cracks in the trunk or major limbs)
• Leaning or poor root anchorage
• Dead or dying branches
• Signs of disease or decay
• Proximity to power lines, buildings, or vehicles

2. Support Vulnerable Trees with Cabling or Bracing

Some trees just need a little extra support to remain safe and stable during storms.

Cabling involves installing flexible steel cables between major limbs to reduce stress from high winds or heavy rain. Bracing uses rods to support splitting trunks or weak branch unions.

These techniques:

• Prevent breakage in mature, high-value trees
• Extend the life of trees with structural defects
• Reduce the risk of property damage

If you have a large tree that you love but worry about during storms, cabling and bracing might be the solution.

3. Remove Hazardous Limbs or Trees

While our goal is always to preserve trees, sometimes removal is the safest option — especially if a tree is dead, severely decayed, or dangerously close to your home.

Signs a tree may need to be removed:

• Large dead branches hanging over your roof
• A trunk that’s hollow or split
• Fungi (like mushrooms) growing at the base
• A tree leaning more after each storm

Removing a dangerous tree before a storm can prevent thousands of dollars in potential damage.

4. Routine Maintenance Makes a Big Difference

Regular pruning, fertilization, and soil care helps trees withstand stress from storms. A healthy tree with strong roots and balanced limbs is far less likely to fail in bad weather.

Spring is the perfect time to:

• Prune broken or overcrowded limbs
• Mulch and fertilize as needed
• Schedule a maintenance check-up

Be Proactive — Not Reactive

Don’t wait for storm damage to call an arborist. Preventative care is more affordable (and less stressful) than emergency tree removal.