Can Lighting Damage Your Trees?

Whenever spring arrives, people typically welcome bird songs and flowers. However, you probably know that you will have more than several unwelcome storms during the spring season. Aside from intense rain, hail, and wind, big trees are vulnerable to damage if lightning strikes them during a thunderstorm as well. 

Oftentimes, trees are the tallest feature in your residential property. Basically, they become lightning rods during severe storms. If a bolt of lightning strikes your tree, the interior sap of your tree boils. Because of this, it emits stream and results in the cells to burst. This will often cause the wood and bark to peel off or be removed from the tree.  lightning strike would often kill a tree right away. However, it also weakens the tree a lot that it dies eventually from secondary problems. This includes diseases and pests.  

If lightning struck your tree, do not hesitate to call a Bozeman tree service company immediately.  

How to Figure Out Lighting Damage 

Damage from lightning might not be always clear to the untrained individual. It can typically look as if your tree has some form of deterioration or other physical damage. Also, you might not even know that you’re a bolt of lightning has struck your tree until you begin to see a bigger scale die in your tree’s canopy. 

Your tree might have a high possibility of survival if the lighting hits it only on one side. Unfortunately, the tree will probably die if it’s struck and lightning moves towards the tree’s middle part. The reason for this is that both sides of the tree are damaged.  

There are also other aspects that can help figure out if a certain tree would survive when it is struck by lightning. This includes water content, the health of your tree, species of the tree, and age.  

Treating a Tree After Lightning Strike 

If a bolt of lightning has struck your tree. You need to hire a professional tree care company to examine it as soon as possible. An expert will be able to evaluate the amount of damage caused. Then, they will recommend the right thing to do.  

They might start a fertilizer regime right away if the tree is not damaged too seriously. Fertilization will improve the tree’s vigor. It will also help encourage the healthy growth of the roots. If your tree has a strong root system, it can easily get rid of pathogens and insects looking for an easy and weak tree to infest. In addition to that, you should pay close attention to offering supplemental irrigation. Your trees have higher possibilities of suffering during drought because a bolt lightning strike could damage the bark and the roots.  

On the other hand, it is crucial that you get rid of your tree as soon as possible if it is damaged beyond saving. If you don’t do this, your tree will turn into a severe safety risk to property and people around it. Thus, if an arborist recommends removing the tree, you should follow his/her instructions.