Kansas City Star | 11/25/2004 | Snow gobbles up holiday.
By STEVE ROCK
The Kansas City Star
“This is as bad as we've seen it since the ice storm (of January
2002). Even some of those sturdy oak trees have limbs breaking. With
the leaves still up there, and the snow this wet, it just pulls those
limbs down.”
James Stone, KCP&L
This isn't how David Peterson expected to start his Thanksgiving holiday.
Yet there he was on Wednesday morning, staring at the damaged 1999 Nissan Altima in his Kansas City driveway.
Just
a few hours earlier, a weakened Bradford pear tree collapsed under the
weight of an overnight snowstorm and fell onto his car.
“Two days ago,” Peterson said, shaking his head, “we mowed the yard.”
Aside from the nice "cut the lawn" quote, the point to note here is that the tree that damaged the car was a Bradford Pear, notoriously weak (If I was feeling dramatic I'd say "beautiful but deadly") but a favorite for its Spring flowers and Fall colors. But they break and lose limbs pretty easily - an example of what the experts mean when they talk about planting the Right Tree in the Right Place. There are OK places to plant Bradford Pears, but near your driveway isn't one of them.
The National Arbor Day Foundation has lots of information about what to do right after a tree-damaging storm; here are a few key articles:
In the Storm's Wake
Can These Trees Be Saved?
Watch Out for Scam Artists Posing as Arborists
Tree First Aid After a Storm
Reducing Tree Damage in Future Storms
