The trees on your property are at risk of losing limbs or falling over during storms, too. Here are three tips to stay safe in winter when you have large trees on your property.

1. Keep an Eye on Your Trees

Weak, brittle, and damaged trees are at great risk of toppling when the trees are battered by wind, ice storms, and flooding. To protect yourself and your property, survey your trees before winter.

Signs you'll see on vulnerable trees include the following:

• Loss of needles, bark, or leaves
• Curled and discolored leaves
  
• Broken or misshaped tops
  
• Conks and mushrooms at tree bases
  
• Split, crossed, and broken limbs
  
• Weak branch junctions
  
• Woodpecker and insect holes
  

When you notice numerous fallen limbs around the base of a tree, suspect that the tree is weak or diseased. If you see any of the above signs in your trees, consult with a tree service to have your trees examined thoroughly.

2. Schedule Removal of Hazardous Limbs and Trees

If your trees are pruned, fertilized, and watered routinely, limb breakage is less likely during storms. Despite your best efforts, you may still have hazardous limbs on some of your trees. Weakened, diseased, and brittle limbs must be removed from trees to limit their likelihood of falling on people, vehicles, power lines, and roofs.

Schedule a professional removal of hazardous limbs and trees before winter is in full swing. Your tree service makes short work of removing even the tallest limbs because they have bucket lifts and other tools to reach the loftiest branches. If an entire tree must go, the tree service techs know how to drop the tree safely.

Your tree service professionals know how to spot the signs of a hazardous limb or tree. They'll notice problems with your trees that you may not recognize. They can trim and brace your trees to reduce the chances of storm-related tree damage.

3. Stay Aware During High Winds and Storms

Even the healthiest trees can succumb to wind and storms when they become encased in ice or covered in large quantities of snow. Stay aware when outside on your property, so you don't put yourself at risk.

Look up when you walk under trees during and after storms. If branches are bowed or seem over-burdened with snow and ice, avoid walking, driving, and parking under those branches.

Additional safety tips while under your trees during high winds and storms include the following:

• Remain aware of your surroundings
• Stay away from densely wooded areas
  
• Listen for cracking or popping sounds
  
• Avoid standing near trees during high winds
  
• Never climb ice-or snow-covered trees

Affected branches will often return to their pre-storm conditions, so they don't necessarily have to be removed. However, the overloaded branches are a huge safety risk while they experience winter- and storm-related stress.

Don't try to help your trees by shaking the snow from the limbs. You may do more damage than good when a snow-flocked branch is stressed or brittle. You don't need to remove the ice from branches, either, even if your tree looks like it's about to fall over from the strain.

If none of the branches are snapped or split, wait to see if the trees will recover on their own. When there is tree damage, consult with your tree service as soon as possible to have the hazardous branches removed.

Schedule your pre-winter tree inspection and hazardous tree removal by contacting Brown's Tree Service, LLC today. We offer hazardous branch and tree removal for residents and businesses throughout the Southern Indianapolis, Indiana region.