TL;DR: Walk your property for dead limbs, cracks, and leaning trees, clear your gutters and any loose debris, and schedule pruning or removals while the weather is still calm.
Fall brings the season’s strongest winds, the first wet snow, and the first ice storms that load down branches until they snap. The trees that stood fine all summer are often the ones that come down in the first strong storm, usually because a weakness was already there and nobody caught it. A little prep now, while the weather is still on your side, is what keeps a routine storm from turning into a tree on your roof.
Why Fall Prep Matters in West Michigan
Our fall storms do most of their damage through wind and ice. Storms cause dead wood, weak branch forks, and trees that are already leaning or rooting poorly to fall. Summer’s full canopy hides a lot of that. Once the leaves thin out you can finally see the structure of the tree, which makes fall a good time to look it over.
Start With a Walk-Around
Take a few minutes on a calm day and walk the whole property. Look at each tree from a couple of angles, and check it from the top down. If you are not sure what counts as a problem, our guide on how to spot a hazardous tree walks through the signs.
- Walk the whole property and look at each tree from a few angles
- Check the canopy for large dead, cracked, or hanging branches (call a pro)
- Look over the trunk for cracks, cavities, or missing bark
- Check the base for mushrooms, fungus, or soil lifting on one side
- Note any tree leaning toward the house, driveway, or a spot where people gather (call a pro)
Clear What the Wind Can Grab
Once the inspection is done, tidy up so the wind has less to throw around and fall rain has somewhere to go.
- Clear gutters and downspouts of leaves and twigs
- Rake leaves and debris away from drainage paths
- Store or tie down loose yard items that could blow around
- Trim small, low dead branches you can safely reach from the ground
Watch the House and the Power Lines
Walk the edges of your house, garage, and shed and look up. Any limb over the roof or resting against the siding should come down before a storm loads it with wind or ice. Branches near or touching a power line are their own situation: keep clear, and call your utility company for anything in contact with their lines. For a tree of your own that is crowding a structure, tree trimming and pruning can often relieve the risk without taking the whole tree.
- Spot limbs hanging over the roof or resting on the house, garage, or shed (call a pro)
- Look for branches near or touching a power line, and call your utility for anything in contact with the line (call a pro)
- Make sure walkways and the driveway are clear of low, weak limbs
Book Before the Storm
If you find weak forks, heavy overhang, or a tree that is clearly declining during your walk-around, fall is the time to book the work. Pruning can lighten and balance a canopy so it sheds wind better. A tree with serious trunk decay, failing roots, or a lean toward the house is usually a candidate for tree removal, and doing it on your schedule is cheaper and safer than a storm doing it on its own. We assess hazardous trees and hanging branches for free, so you can get a read on which trees need attention and which are fine.
Have a Plan for When a Storm Hits
Even a well-prepped property can take a hit in a bad blow, so decide ahead of time what you will do.
- Save our number where you can find it fast
- Keep a short list of your highest-risk trees so you know where to look first once the wind dies down
After the Storm
When it is safe to go out, do a slow walk of the property in daylight. A tree can ride out a storm standing and still be damaged inside, so look closely.
- Look up for limbs that cracked but hung up in the canopy, since those can drop hours or days later
- Check trunks and major forks for splits that were not there before
- Call about anything new and worrying rather than waiting to see if it holds
If damage does occur, we offer emergency tree services to help clean up.
Get a Free Assessment Before the Season
If your walk-around left you unsure about a tree, have us take a look while the weather is still calm. We serve homeowners and businesses across West Michigan, and the assessment is free. Request your free estimate and we will get eyes on your trees before the wind does.
