I thought I’d share a couple of photos from a job I completed last week. Three large beautiful Deodar Cedars (Cedrus deodara) were growing in a backyard in the Wedgewood neighborhood of Seattle. The only problem was the six utility lines running through the trees to a couple of houses. The homeowners were worried about snow load and windstorms knocking branches into the lines.
Before pruning: branches from the Deador Cedar Cedrus deodara close to and resting on wires.
After about 3 hours of pruning and maneuvering around up in the trees, the lines were no longer in contact with the tree and there was plenty of clearance around the branches that remained. A potential future power outage averted!
After several hours of climbing, and assistance from the ground crew below, the wires are running through the Cedrus deodara unimpeded to the house.
Notice I left several branches lower on the trunk that are below the level of the wires. Low branches are important to tree health, especially in older trees. Branches help stimulate the tree to increase trunk width and strength in the areas where they are attached.