- 44.7 inYearly rain, Springfield (NOAA normal)
- 13.7 inAverage yearly snow
- 110 daysWet days per year
01Cables and rods
Cabling uses steel cable installed high in the canopy between two or more limbs, so they share load instead of pulling apart. Bracing uses rigid threaded rods through a split or weak union to hold it together. Both are hardware, so they are installed with care to keep bark wounds small.
02When it makes sense
It suits a healthy tree with a structural defect, such as a codominant trunk on a big oak or maple near the house. It does not fix decay, dying trees or root problems; in those cases a tree health assessment or removal is usually the better call.
03Upkeep
Trees keep growing around the hardware, so cables are usually checked on a schedule and adjusted or replaced as needed. Light pruning of the heavy ends often goes with a cabling job to cut the load.
04Signs a fork may need support
Look for a narrow V where two stems of similar size meet, bark squeezed into the joint, a vertical crack running down from the union, or one stem leaning away from the other more each year. Ice storms and spring thunderstorms are when these joints tend to split, so a check before winter is sensible.
05Questions to ask the crew
Ask what hardware they use and where it will sit, whether the plan follows the ANSI A300 standard for supplemental support systems, how often they recommend an inspection, and what happens if the tree later declines. If a limb already hangs over the house after a storm, call for emergency storm tree service first.
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