Although dead branches don’t seem very useful to a tree, they are, in fact, extremely useful to the arborist. We can make a great deal of money pruning dead branches from trees. And also, arborists can interpret why branches have died in order to have a better notion about the current health condition of a specific tree. Oh, and let’s not forget all the benefits that dead branches have for beneficial organisms and wildlife. Dead branches, although not key to the universe, are key to the arborist way of life, for sure.

How long a branch has been dead, also known as the Level of Deadness, or LOD, for this discussion, is important to the arborist for two reasons: risk and reward. The bark is all gone and the existing wood resembles a soggy mix of Life cereal without the milk; or, a branch that was in full leaf set two years prior has now died back. For me, I’m treating these branches completely different from a problem-solving standpoint. One should be actively addressed with mechanical control, and one should be started on a diagnostic process. Of course, these decisions can also vary with consideration to the overall current health of each specific tree. Let’s assume though, that by all other accounts aside from the two specific limbs in the discussion, the rest of the crown has no indication of health issues. Thus, a limb that has been subject to decay for a longer period of time and one that has recently died or is in the process of dying back represent two levels of LOD and also, the applicable concepts of risk and reward, respectively.

What I mean by risk when talking about that oh-so-punky limb is that it is  crumbling, it can’t be climbed on, and you could maybe even get it out of the crown with a throw line or tagline in a pinch if it were that big of a concern, and time a limitation. Or maybe you have to do something way cooler. There is anxiety attached to these limbs, for one reason or another, and when I use the term risk in this context, I am not referring to tree risk assessment, although the concepts will undoubtedly intersect somewhere. Just to clarify. Maybe the client has known the limb to be dead for a very long time, now, the risk has finally set in for the client, looming like the raven upon the bust outside their office door.

Reward, here in its application to a dead limb, insinuates an initial challenge. And that challenge can be simple, or it can be extremely complex. Some simple examples would be setting a pair of binoculars to your eyes and looking at a recently dead limb, and realizing it had broken in a wind storm, or under the load of ice, or maybe, simply shaded out. This scenario offers a small reward, but a reward nonetheless. Climb it. Cut it. Bill it. Maybe it is an Ash, or an Elm, the dieback is sudden, and you assume the worst. But still, diagnostics are in order, further levels of inspection, monitoring, and possibly mechanical measures like pesticide treatment, pruning, removal or stump grinding. And so, in this scenario, a dead limb with a small LOD reading could offer very high reward. Given this consideration, sometimes a smaller dead limb, if comparing dead limbs on a table, can offer a higher profit margin than say a limb that has been long decaying, has a bigger feeling of risk from a failure standpoint, but needing a lower level of diagnostic treatment.

But what about the bacteria, the chipmunks, the carpenter ants, and all of the smaller urban forest creatures that benefit from deadwood and decay and the voids it leaves. If you prune it all away, isn’t that, like, less organic? Well, although there is research there, beneficial creatures and deadwood sit on the horizon of client tolerance and situational site targets. For instance, if a limb falls in the woods, and no one is around to hear it, and to doesn’t hit anything, does anyone care? Yes, probably the family of critters that were living in it, but probably not too many others. Come closer though, to the yard, next to the garage or over the house or in the yard where we barbecue and play and laugh all the day long, then that limb falling or threatening to fall, or suddenly dying, affects a lot more than just the family of critters living in it. So then, the case for deadwood providing a benefit is kept in the the folder labeled ‘Location’.

So, the keys for deadwood here, just to wrap up, are Level of Deadness (LOD), Risk and Reward situations for the purpose of process, and Location. These three keys provide a solid basis for a discussion about dead branches.

As the old proverb goes, ‘Know the dead branches, and you shall be paid’.