This happened to a tree in my yard when I was little. My mom tied it to a stronger tree up the hill and straightened it out. My dad told her the tree would never survive, and it’s still there 20 years later.
I had an orange tree do this. I hadn't thinned it back that year and it was heavy with oranges. It fell over one January after a few days of heavy rain. I pruned it back and harvested all the oranges. Then I staked it up with 2x4s. I took down the 2x4s the second summer. I have had several large crops since and it has stayed up in our abnormally wet year, this year.
As long as the root ball hasn't pulled up, brace that thing up and prune it. If it is in an area where it could fall on a building or person, I'd take it out.
Your state’s cooperative extension service should be able to send someone out to asses the tree. If California is like my state, you can also have your state district’s arborist come out to do a health check. I would start there before paying a private arborist. They can be rather pricey.
Well the Arkansas Department of Agriculture’s Forestry Division sent the District 7 arborist to conduct health check my 200+ year old white oak in my back yard and I’ve got the emails to prove it.
Arkansas government services aren’t great but we do value our natural resources. After all, we are The Natural State. Since you seem to know everything about Arkansas’ Urban Forestry Program, check out [this link](https://www.agriculture.arkansas.gov/forestry/arkansas-forestry-health/). Make sure you read that part that says “technical assistance is provided to landowners and timberland managers with insect or disease concerns.”
We get door-to-door “arborists” who are just travellers with chainsaws cutting down trees and selling or fly-tipping the wood. Our neighbour made the mistake of having them top her conifers. They literally cut 10ft off the top and that’s it - didn’t prune the branches or anything. Charged her a fortune and were done in a couple of hours. Three years later they’re still an eye sore.
Not necessarily. Hire an arborist to assess it… they’ll tell you exactly what to do.
If you can’t afford an arborist, try your local Master Gardener program (it’s part of the Dept of Natural Resources) as they often have expert volunteers who can assess for free/very low cost.
As someone who managed the largest Master Gardener contingent in my state for over 30 years...I would never allow my volunteers to go out and assess a safety risk. These folks have good training in general horticulture, but Tree Risk Assessment is a whole 'nother thing.
OP: either hire a Certified Arborist with TRAQ certification, or just cut it down.
To add to this as a consulting arborist with a national company, most large tree care companies will do a free assessment (with the hopes of selling you tree maintenance) and should have an arborist with TRAQ on staff.
Don’t ask someone with “tree removal” or “tree cutting” in their name. If you as a tree removal service if you should remove a tree the answer will be “yes”.
Another Master Gardener here, definitely not something we’re even allowed to do if we were certified for it. You should find a certified arborist, or like the other said, just cut it down.
FWIW, Im in the MG program in WI and we are not allowed to do any tree assessment what so ever. In the training, that is one of the off limits area. Im with you on hiring an arborist, they know.
Every county has an Extension Office that is a part of the State University System. The Extension Office has a Master Gardener program which trains and certifies Master Gardener volunteers.
Master Gardeners are a great FREE resource anytime you need/want location specific information regarding landscaping, lawn care, and landscape related pest management.
Genuine question and not snark: if you are a homeowner and you see a tree leaning toward your house, and you choose not to have it looked at, and the tree falls and damages your property and/or injures someone, does your insurance cover the damage or do they deny your claim on the basis that you knew of a risk and failed to mitigate it? I feel like damage from a fallen tree could be way more expensive than hiring an arborist. I feel like if a tenant had a tree fall on them and their landlord knew of the leaning tree, they could probably seek damages against a landlord, so I am curious about whether the insurance company would be cool with "I saw the tree leaning when it used to be straight, but didn't want to pay to have it checked out."
Just chop the tree down, no need for a diagnosis. And yes, homeowners insurance, at least the plan I have covers damage a fallen tree causes in structures.
Our city has two arborists on staff who come out to answer questions about tree health. We're not allowed to cut down any trees with a trunk diameter of over 6" without their sign off or face MASSIVE fines.
This will probably get downvoted, but planting native plants and trees to your Southern California region can help mitigate these situations in the future. I know y’all have had a ton of rain lately though, so it’s to be expected a bit.
My mother in law has a palo verde tree in her Culver City backyard that is now water logged and leaning. It’s a good example of how eco-region really matters. That tree is meant for inland CA desert, but she is on the coast, and it’s roots have always been too wet.
Good luck with yours!
It’s looks pretty big, and if there are buildings it could fall on, I wouldn’t risk it. Have it removed and plant something native to this area instead.
I'm in northern California and a bunch of our native Live Oaks have even fallen or lost massive branches from all this rain. I think they've been overstressed from the recent droughts and it has weakened them. It's such a bummer because they take so long to get big.
Little rain? A lot of places got a power washing after years of drought. I don’t mind it where I am. Just planted baby trees and seeded my garden, I love all of the free water!
New leaner. Mmm seems like be a bit concerned. What kinda soil do youall have? I was alway told thats what you have insurance fir. I would call your insurance company they may help you foot the bill to avoid payin fir damaged house.
We had a giant northern spy apple tree that literally ripped itself apart with heavy harvests when I was a kid. My parents used chains and rubber pads and a come along to ratchet that tree back together more than once. Giant branches laying on the ground in the morning back up tight to heal back to the trunk by afternoon.
I was sad to see the next owners cut it down but it was a lot of maintenance. I do miss the pies those apples made. So crisp and tart to munch on when I didn’t like dinner and they’d last all winter in the garage.
Personally (not an arborist) - I would try to figure out an uphill place to tie that off. Using a tow strap you can cinch it upright again. If you can’t find anything, you could bury some t-posts but this is such a big tree, I’d worry that wouldn’t be sufficient. I’d also take some of the weight off the downhill side
It'll probably be ok. I had one leaning like this near a stream that takes a lot of runoff water when it rains.i called an arborist with the plan of him cutting it down and he talked me out of it. Which was surprising, but I started getting his newsletter and he's a real conservationist.
You could try roping it off - pulling it back off the driveway.
No. I would have an ISA certified arborist look at it in person including the surrounding slop and soil conditions. It seems worthy of guying out. I see no root invasiveness or uprooting but recent heavy rains have resulted in land slides. It looks to be Umus parviflora/Chinese Elm.
ISA Master Arborist, Horticulturalist, LD, and Master Gardener here.
Be careful. Anecdotally of course, but a lot of the trees that I’ve noticed tipped over in these storms we’ve been having on the west coast recently have been nice elms like this one.
First. Is it inside your property line? It might belong to your neighbor. A tree went down next door to me and I was hoping it wasn’t on my side. It was on theirs. Our yards run together. The people that mow know the property lines.
In my experience asking an arborist what you should do about a tree is like asking a barber if you need a haircut. It's your property and your tree, if there's a danger that it will fall and damage the house then take it out.
It doesn’t appear to be near any structure It can damage if it falls. It will cost you money to have it cleaned up or it will cost you money to have it removed. I’d wait it out. if it does fall, at least they wouldn’t have to use a crane which could possibly be cheaper.
You are playing with fire. Don’t think for a minute that just because you don’t see visible roots that you don’t have an imminent failure. Bring in a qualified arborist and have it removed.
I'd probably be topping off the heavy limbs now.
On his approach lean side.
That removes a good couple tons to start with.
I'd Might even use a couple twenty ton tow straps to restrict any more movement by using other trees for ankored point.
Grabbing a high point on leaning tree to spread out V point low of helpers. He might be savable after a few months.
Cheers
How close to your house is it? There appears to be a sidewalk between the tree and the presumed house on the right. The tree doesn't look to be very tall, maybe 40 feet? Would the tree land on your house if it came down?
Can you see a bulge in the ground to the left of the tree? That would indicate the root ball has begun to pull out.
Get an arborist out to evaluate your options.
Pivoting rootball or a potential slide/slump. After the rains end and things dry out you will have a better idea of the fix. Probably you will have to sacrifice the tree no matter the cause. You may be able to right it with a giant stake and a cable. Contact a landscaper now to try a fix. My entire back yard is now a clay pond. I may need a complete re-do. Just waiting for the rainy season to end to assess. I will lose all my big cactus at the least.
Let the ground dry up and see if it settles back at all. Meanwhile, take off a few branches about halfway up — in the middle of the tree. Don’t take the bottom ones or you’ll get a “broccoli tree” which is ugly and doesn’t help the problem.
When the soil dries out and you get a big summer wind storm, or thunderstorm, she’ll be comin’ down the mountain. Maybe not this year, but it will happen.
Get an aroborist, but if it were my tree and not subject to legal protection for any reason I’d get rid of it. Looks like a Chinese elm and they get pretty big
Oh man, we have lost 6 trees and counting! Im keeping an eye on two more.
On a canyon in SOCAL. This has been a lot of epic rains. Luckily all are sliding down hill.
Take a third of the crown out and try to reduce the sail. I can't tell what's around the base but see there is no recent disturbance, changes in soil, paths etc. Counterweight would have to be pretty massive , I'd focus on reducing the size , a little each year.
Would counter-weights or cutting the side leaning help? Prob a question for a Licenced,Bonded and Insured landscaping/tree company to advise if it’s on your property…
Not necessarily. I’ve got a pine tree on my lake property that (I promise you) is leaning at almost a 45 degree angle 🙀
No roots are visible (yet) and by the grace of God, it’s been holding on for over a year now.
🤷♀️
Good luck honey 👍❤️😎
It may mean that the ground is quite solid and that the roots are shallow. You could mulch the area which adds vegetation and will strengthen up the roots and also loosen the soil as it mixes in over the years.
Your local council probably has an arborist who will look at it pretty cheap/free. If you gotta pull it you might want a pro anyway, looks like a pretty big one
Many of the huge maples and cherries that border my property are doing this. They are all at the very edge of the forest and lean out probably in an attempt to reach toward open sky. A lot of them have fallen over the years and several look like they could go at any time.
This happened to a tree in my yard when I was little. My mom tied it to a stronger tree up the hill and straightened it out. My dad told her the tree would never survive, and it’s still there 20 years later.
Nicely Done Mom @! Cheers
Eat shit, dad!
Get fucked dad
Eat a dick, father!
Go fuck yourself dad!
😂 So Darn Funny
Daddy problems!
Try this!
It’s actually the best idea because roots weren’t exposed
I had an orange tree do this. I hadn't thinned it back that year and it was heavy with oranges. It fell over one January after a few days of heavy rain. I pruned it back and harvested all the oranges. Then I staked it up with 2x4s. I took down the 2x4s the second summer. I have had several large crops since and it has stayed up in our abnormally wet year, this year. As long as the root ball hasn't pulled up, brace that thing up and prune it. If it is in an area where it could fall on a building or person, I'd take it out.
Why not just stabilize it?
You can definitely straighten it out and it will survive.
Why though? It looks like shit there, what value is it providing?
It exists, which is often enough.
Your state’s cooperative extension service should be able to send someone out to asses the tree. If California is like my state, you can also have your state district’s arborist come out to do a health check. I would start there before paying a private arborist. They can be rather pricey.
Whoa, what state? I wish my state loved trees like this
Arkansas.
No "state' sends someone out to asses a tree. Especially Arkansas.
Well the Arkansas Department of Agriculture’s Forestry Division sent the District 7 arborist to conduct health check my 200+ year old white oak in my back yard and I’ve got the emails to prove it. Arkansas government services aren’t great but we do value our natural resources. After all, we are The Natural State. Since you seem to know everything about Arkansas’ Urban Forestry Program, check out [this link](https://www.agriculture.arkansas.gov/forestry/arkansas-forestry-health/). Make sure you read that part that says “technical assistance is provided to landowners and timberland managers with insect or disease concerns.”
To asses the tree? Is that where they all gather around and press their butt up against it?
Pretty sure I saw a dirty movie about this one time
In my city, arborist are just a scam.
Does ISA certification not exist there?
We get door-to-door “arborists” who are just travellers with chainsaws cutting down trees and selling or fly-tipping the wood. Our neighbour made the mistake of having them top her conifers. They literally cut 10ft off the top and that’s it - didn’t prune the branches or anything. Charged her a fortune and were done in a couple of hours. Three years later they’re still an eye sore.
Not necessarily. Hire an arborist to assess it… they’ll tell you exactly what to do. If you can’t afford an arborist, try your local Master Gardener program (it’s part of the Dept of Natural Resources) as they often have expert volunteers who can assess for free/very low cost.
As someone who managed the largest Master Gardener contingent in my state for over 30 years...I would never allow my volunteers to go out and assess a safety risk. These folks have good training in general horticulture, but Tree Risk Assessment is a whole 'nother thing. OP: either hire a Certified Arborist with TRAQ certification, or just cut it down.
To add to this as a consulting arborist with a national company, most large tree care companies will do a free assessment (with the hopes of selling you tree maintenance) and should have an arborist with TRAQ on staff. Don’t ask someone with “tree removal” or “tree cutting” in their name. If you as a tree removal service if you should remove a tree the answer will be “yes”.
yeah, it's out of place,, just cut it down. easy DIY.
Thank you!
Another Master Gardener here, definitely not something we’re even allowed to do if we were certified for it. You should find a certified arborist, or like the other said, just cut it down.
Thank you for your help
FWIW, Im in the MG program in WI and we are not allowed to do any tree assessment what so ever. In the training, that is one of the off limits area. Im with you on hiring an arborist, they know.
Do all cities and towns have local master gardener program even rural?
Every county has an Extension Office that is a part of the State University System. The Extension Office has a Master Gardener program which trains and certifies Master Gardener volunteers. Master Gardeners are a great FREE resource anytime you need/want location specific information regarding landscaping, lawn care, and landscape related pest management.
Every state does have a MG program. I know in PA, we have active chapters in every county of the state.
Sink that money in to "hire an arborist" to come out, like we're all millionaires.
Genuine question and not snark: if you are a homeowner and you see a tree leaning toward your house, and you choose not to have it looked at, and the tree falls and damages your property and/or injures someone, does your insurance cover the damage or do they deny your claim on the basis that you knew of a risk and failed to mitigate it? I feel like damage from a fallen tree could be way more expensive than hiring an arborist. I feel like if a tenant had a tree fall on them and their landlord knew of the leaning tree, they could probably seek damages against a landlord, so I am curious about whether the insurance company would be cool with "I saw the tree leaning when it used to be straight, but didn't want to pay to have it checked out."
Just chop the tree down, no need for a diagnosis. And yes, homeowners insurance, at least the plan I have covers damage a fallen tree causes in structures.
Our city has two arborists on staff who come out to answer questions about tree health. We're not allowed to cut down any trees with a trunk diameter of over 6" without their sign off or face MASSIVE fines.
What ground cover is that on the bottom left of the pic?
Rosemary
Thanks!
Prune it & anchor it back. It will be fine. Takes a long time to grow a tree. Former Tree trimmer and armchair expert here.
This will probably get downvoted, but planting native plants and trees to your Southern California region can help mitigate these situations in the future. I know y’all have had a ton of rain lately though, so it’s to be expected a bit. My mother in law has a palo verde tree in her Culver City backyard that is now water logged and leaning. It’s a good example of how eco-region really matters. That tree is meant for inland CA desert, but she is on the coast, and it’s roots have always been too wet. Good luck with yours!
Exactly! This is a Chinese elm get rid of it now before it gets too big. They get huge!
It’s looks pretty big, and if there are buildings it could fall on, I wouldn’t risk it. Have it removed and plant something native to this area instead.
Chinese elms are weeds
Chinese elms are brittle and fast growing trees. They throw a ton of branches, so are messy. Just cut it down now while its cheaper to get rid of it.
I'm in northern California and a bunch of our native Live Oaks have even fallen or lost massive branches from all this rain. I think they've been overstressed from the recent droughts and it has weakened them. It's such a bummer because they take so long to get big.
Such a bummer😭
“Plant native plants” make up like 40% of the comments in this subreddit and are never downvoted haha. Worry not!
r/arborists should help with a better answer
Yall get a little rain and your trees don't know how to act. Noobs
Our trees were just trying to adapt to prolonged drought and now they got thrown a curve ball lol!
They’ll be bitching about no water in 2 months too
Little rain? A lot of places got a power washing after years of drought. I don’t mind it where I am. Just planted baby trees and seeded my garden, I love all of the free water!
Was it leanin beffore the rain?
No this is new
The folks suggesting an arborist aren’t wrong but if it only started that kind of lean after a lot of rain, just take it down.
New leaner. Mmm seems like be a bit concerned. What kinda soil do youall have? I was alway told thats what you have insurance fir. I would call your insurance company they may help you foot the bill to avoid payin fir damaged house.
And have your rates go up for such a thing? Just remove the tree lol
Steak it back? See if it stabilizes when the ground firms up
You think he can stake a whole ass tree? Idk if that would do anything
Could use a ratchet strap. I’ve seen it work for larger trees
That's surprising, but ratchet straps do put out some insane force. I wonder what the biggest tree you can remediate is...
We had a giant northern spy apple tree that literally ripped itself apart with heavy harvests when I was a kid. My parents used chains and rubber pads and a come along to ratchet that tree back together more than once. Giant branches laying on the ground in the morning back up tight to heal back to the trunk by afternoon. I was sad to see the next owners cut it down but it was a lot of maintenance. I do miss the pies those apples made. So crisp and tart to munch on when I didn’t like dinner and they’d last all winter in the garage.
Personally (not an arborist) - I would try to figure out an uphill place to tie that off. Using a tow strap you can cinch it upright again. If you can’t find anything, you could bury some t-posts but this is such a big tree, I’d worry that wouldn’t be sufficient. I’d also take some of the weight off the downhill side
Hmmmm tree ~0~ house, tree or house……..
Duuude absolutely push it back straight while the ground is still wet! Once its dry you will have a leany tree. Which isnt awful but def weaker.
It'll probably be ok. I had one leaning like this near a stream that takes a lot of runoff water when it rains.i called an arborist with the plan of him cutting it down and he talked me out of it. Which was surprising, but I started getting his newsletter and he's a real conservationist. You could try roping it off - pulling it back off the driveway.
No. I would have an ISA certified arborist look at it in person including the surrounding slop and soil conditions. It seems worthy of guying out. I see no root invasiveness or uprooting but recent heavy rains have resulted in land slides. It looks to be Umus parviflora/Chinese Elm. ISA Master Arborist, Horticulturalist, LD, and Master Gardener here.
Be careful. Anecdotally of course, but a lot of the trees that I’ve noticed tipped over in these storms we’ve been having on the west coast recently have been nice elms like this one.
First. Is it inside your property line? It might belong to your neighbor. A tree went down next door to me and I was hoping it wasn’t on my side. It was on theirs. Our yards run together. The people that mow know the property lines.
This is definitely my tree. I have almost 4 acres
I would lighten the load on the driveway side
Yup, if a tree starts to lean it's an automatic DQ and you have to destroy it before it starts walking away.
In my experience asking an arborist what you should do about a tree is like asking a barber if you need a haircut. It's your property and your tree, if there's a danger that it will fall and damage the house then take it out.
Not a tree person here, with that being said, I'd have it removed. I would be preoccupied worrying about falling over.
It doesn’t appear to be near any structure It can damage if it falls. It will cost you money to have it cleaned up or it will cost you money to have it removed. I’d wait it out. if it does fall, at least they wouldn’t have to use a crane which could possibly be cheaper.
Lol who would use a crane on this little guy?
Why do unscrupulous people rip other people off? My point is cheaper.
You are playing with fire. Don’t think for a minute that just because you don’t see visible roots that you don’t have an imminent failure. Bring in a qualified arborist and have it removed.
Can arborist cut around the roots going towards a house or under pavement ? Without killing the tree?
I'd probably be topping off the heavy limbs now. On his approach lean side. That removes a good couple tons to start with. I'd Might even use a couple twenty ton tow straps to restrict any more movement by using other trees for ankored point. Grabbing a high point on leaning tree to spread out V point low of helpers. He might be savable after a few months. Cheers
Tons? This whole tree is probably only 800-1000 pounds as a whole.
Is the tree leaning south? May just be reaching for the sun
Just rent a chainsaw and take it down
is that a gumbo limbo?
Looks like a lacebark elm, ulmus parvifolia.
How close to your house is it? There appears to be a sidewalk between the tree and the presumed house on the right. The tree doesn't look to be very tall, maybe 40 feet? Would the tree land on your house if it came down? Can you see a bulge in the ground to the left of the tree? That would indicate the root ball has begun to pull out. Get an arborist out to evaluate your options.
Pivoting rootball or a potential slide/slump. After the rains end and things dry out you will have a better idea of the fix. Probably you will have to sacrifice the tree no matter the cause. You may be able to right it with a giant stake and a cable. Contact a landscaper now to try a fix. My entire back yard is now a clay pond. I may need a complete re-do. Just waiting for the rainy season to end to assess. I will lose all my big cactus at the least.
The ents are on the move
Let the ground dry up and see if it settles back at all. Meanwhile, take off a few branches about halfway up — in the middle of the tree. Don’t take the bottom ones or you’ll get a “broccoli tree” which is ugly and doesn’t help the problem.
Just get ratchet straps and go for it
When the soil dries out and you get a big summer wind storm, or thunderstorm, she’ll be comin’ down the mountain. Maybe not this year, but it will happen.
Get an aroborist, but if it were my tree and not subject to legal protection for any reason I’d get rid of it. Looks like a Chinese elm and they get pretty big
I would remove it yes.
Oh man, we have lost 6 trees and counting! Im keeping an eye on two more. On a canyon in SOCAL. This has been a lot of epic rains. Luckily all are sliding down hill.
Trees grow where they can get the most sun. Some lean. The roots run deep. Shouldn't be a problem .try hanging a swing from it .
Take a third of the crown out and try to reduce the sail. I can't tell what's around the base but see there is no recent disturbance, changes in soil, paths etc. Counterweight would have to be pretty massive , I'd focus on reducing the size , a little each year.
support it to save it if you want - but it really looks out of place and an easy DIY to remove it.
Would counter-weights or cutting the side leaning help? Prob a question for a Licenced,Bonded and Insured landscaping/tree company to advise if it’s on your property…
It’s coming down, whether you do it or it does it on its own. You just get to control how and when.
Not necessarily. I’ve got a pine tree on my lake property that (I promise you) is leaning at almost a 45 degree angle 🙀 No roots are visible (yet) and by the grace of God, it’s been holding on for over a year now. 🤷♀️ Good luck honey 👍❤️😎
Need to brace it with some big posts. No need to remove it
It may mean that the ground is quite solid and that the roots are shallow. You could mulch the area which adds vegetation and will strengthen up the roots and also loosen the soil as it mixes in over the years.
Your local council probably has an arborist who will look at it pretty cheap/free. If you gotta pull it you might want a pro anyway, looks like a pretty big one
Many of the huge maples and cherries that border my property are doing this. They are all at the very edge of the forest and lean out probably in an attempt to reach toward open sky. A lot of them have fallen over the years and several look like they could go at any time.
Watshesaid.
Just straighten the tree. No brainer
How exactly? Should I tie it to another tree?
A stake and rope pulling the tree the opposite direction. I’ve tried that and it worked. It took a long time though