CALGARY – It caught everyone off guard and the cleanup from last summer’s snowstorm is still underway.
It caused millions of dollars in damage to Calgary’s natural tree canopy.
Sunday, Calgarians got some advice on just how to care for trees that managed to survive the freak storm to help the canopy of green return to Calgary.
Last September Calgary’s trees took a beating. The unexpected snow storm causing millions of dollars in damage.
About 250,000 public trees were affected, along with many more on private property.
City crews have been busy using different methods to determine the health of Calgary’s trees.
“We’re still recovering from the September snow event. We lost, we’re guessing 50 percent of the tree canopy was damaged in some way and three quarters of that was on personal property,” Julie Guimond from Parks and Recreation with the City of Calgary said.
“It’s very good for detecting cracks and decay pockets that we can’t see,” Mike Delves, from Urban Forestry with the city said. “For me it’s all about risk, so this helps me determine if the tree is risky or not.”
But for the average Calgarian, there’s many questions.
The first of three information sessions took place Sunday, organized to help people make smart decisions when caring for their trees.
“I didn’t know if there was something we could do, like tying the branches up, something like that and actually they suggested not to do that because that might damage the trees more,” Sarah said.
Experts say it’s important to fertilize damaged trees and this year, maybe skip the pruning.
“The pruning this spring should be limited to fixing the broken branches and cut back the branches that might be at risk of failure,” Paul, owner of ‘Your Tree Doctor’ said.
But when in doubt, the safest bet is to call in a specialist.
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