The Summer Sun

‘Scorchio’ is the only way to describe the current weather. As a result of all this dry weather, we have been called out to help customers to deal with branches dropping suddenly after a flash of heavy rain. Willows can be particularly affected as they are quite brittle in structure.

Branches suddenly dropping relates to slower transpiration – how trees take up water through roots and give off water vapor through pores in leaves – due to high humidity in tree canopies on a hot day, which can result in higher pressure, and then higher moisture content inside the branch, which makes it heavier.

It’s difficult to diagnose when a tree will suddenly drop a limb, which makes this hard to prevent. We suggest the best way to mitigate any potential damage is careful preventative pruning, shorten and lighten long horizontal branches. Trim out any sickly branches or ones that show signs of decay.

You can’t prevent this occurrence but, to minimise branch damage in your garden, our highly qualified surveyors can inspect your trees annually for piece of mind.