The warning signs
Walk around the tree and look up, then down:
- Dead branches, especially large ones over a roof, driveway or play area, and any branch broken and hanging in the crown.
- Cracks or splits in the trunk or a main limb, and tight V-shaped forks where two trunks are pushing apart.
- Mushrooms or shelf-like fungus on the trunk or around the base, a sign of decay inside.
- A lean that was not there before, or soil lifting and cracking on the side away from the lean.
- Cavities, missing bark, or a crown that is thinning or dying back year after year.
- Recent digging, paving or construction near the roots.
What it could hit matters as much as its condition
A dead tree at the back of a large lot with nothing under it can wait for a planned job. A tree with the same problems over a house, a car, a fence, a neighbour's yard or a sidewalk cannot. When you judge urgency, picture where it would land.
Power lines and City trees
Never touch, climb or prune a tree that is touching or close to a power line, and after a storm treat every downed line as live. Keep everyone back and call Hydro Ottawa. Trees on the City's boulevard or in a park belong to the City of Ottawa: report a dangerous one to 3-1-1.
Your own tree: permits and emergencies
Under Ottawa's Tree Protection By-law, a private tree that is an immediate threat to public health and safety can be removed without a permit. The City asks you to photograph it first as evidence of its condition. A tree that is dangerous but not an immediate threat usually needs the normal permit process if it is 30 cm or more across on an urban lot of one hectare or less.
Bisson Services offers 24-hour emergency service for dead, dying and dangerous trees across Orleans and Ottawa. If it is already cracked, hanging or leaning onto something, call (613) 558-4806 now. Otherwise, see tree removal or ask for a free estimate; sometimes the answer is pruning out one bad limb rather than taking the tree down.
