The use of cabling and/or bracing is a very common practice in the fine tree care industry. Cabling assist’s weak trees that may be prone to damage from wind, narrow branch attachments, areas of decay or even the weight from the trees own foliage. Cables help disperse the force or load of a specific part of the tree over a wider surface area in turn using the trees own healthy branches to support those branches that are not as stable. These cables, made from high strength steel and attached to the tree with heavy duty bolts, they are usually installed higher up in the canopy of the tree and because of their placement at such a height, it can make them very difficult to see from the ground keeping the appearance of the tree as natural as possible. Cabling should only be installed in a tree after a thorough assessment and evaluation of the trees structure.
Some questions that should be asked:
Is it worth cabling the tree or should I have the weak or damaged limb removed or remove the entire tree?
Has it been damaged before and is it healthy enough to support cabling?
Is this a practical way to care for this tree, or are we just trying to preserve a tree that is actually at the end of its life?
This is just a sampling of questions that may need to be gone over in deciding if cabling or bracing would be the best action to take.
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