Storm Prep Services for Outer Banks Properties

Get your trees looked at before June, not once storm season is in full swing, whether you're oceanside in Kill Devil Hills or soundside down in Rodanthe. Here is how we can help:

• Have someone walk the property and actually look: lean, roots, dead limbs, how close everything sits to the house. Coastal Tree Risk Assessment

• Get ahead of it with pruning if the canopy's dense. The goal is air moving through it, not catching it. Preventative Pruning

• Know what a tree looks like right before it fails, so you're not guessing when you walk past it. Signs a Tree May Fail

• Have a number saved for when something does come down, because eventually something will. Emergency Response / Storm Damage Cleanup

Don't be that homeowner who waits till you're dealing with the aftermath of an avoidable issue.

Most people can't tell just by looking. That's really the whole reason an assessment exists: you're not guessing, and neither are we. A visit covers real questions like:

• Is a leaning tree actually dangerous, or is that just how it grew?

• What does it mean when roots are exposed or pushed up out of the ground?

• How much deadwood in a tree is too much?

• How close is too close for a tree near your house, septic tank, or power lines?

• Why do loblolly pines lose their tops in storms when a live oak right next to them doesn't?

Don't wait until a tree's already down to find out it was never as solid as it looked.

Yes, if it's the right kind of pruning. Not a general trim, and not the kind that's mostly about how a tree looks. A tree carrying extra weight up top, or branches that are basically just draining energy without adding any real strength, is what wind gets ahold of first. Taking that out ahead of time changes how the tree actually handles it when the wind shows up.

This is separate from the annual maintenance program, and it's separate from the fine-pruning work on the Treecaping side. Storm pruning is doing one job, on one schedule, tied to the season, not tied to how the yard looks for company.

A tree that's never been pruned for wind isn't going to handle it any better just because it made it through last season.

There's a real difference between a tree that's sick and a tree that's structurally about to fail, and they're not the same warning signs. A sick tree is a fungus, pest, or dieback question: that's covered in the Tree Guide. This page is specifically about the other one: lean, roots, dead limbs, cracks, anything that changed after the last storm.

Most of it comes down to whether the tree's still anchored the way it should be, not how it looks from the yard. A tree can be full and green and still be one storm away from coming down. A tree that looks a little rough can be perfectly stable. Looking healthy and being structurally sound just aren't the same question.

A tree doesn't have to look sick to be the one that comes down.

Stop, and don't touch anything until you know it's safe: nothing near a line, nothing that's under tension or pinned. That part isn't optional.

Past that, it's mostly about getting us the right information fast: where it came down, what it's resting on, whether it's anywhere near a power line, whether it's blocking the only way in or out. Once we know that much, we can usually tell you what's actually urgent and what can sit for a day.

A tree on the ground isn't the emergency by itself. What it hits on the way down could be.