At the time of writing, we are coming out of the rain event that inundated large areas of New South Wales and southern Queensland. As usual, there was the attendant round of tree failures in the Maleny area.
The tree failures in each weather event have their own distinct flavour. This time was different because we had heavy rain, but very little wind. The species that failed include fig trees, the usual liquid ambers and paper barks.
What happened in this event is that the sustained heavy rain allowed the trees to take up as much moisture as they could possibly hold and then in addition to this the extra weight of the water on the surface of the leaves and branches meant that any structural defects were placed under an increased load, and some of them failed.
This is why I encourage people to not let the trees close to their houses get too big. With a good reduction prune every 5 to 10 years you can keep the trees for shade, habitat, and the innumerable other benefits that trees provide, and keep your property safe.
With the weather cooling down now growth rates will slow down, making it a great time to start dealing with the excesses of the summer growing season, so get out there and touch your trees.
You know you want to!
