Month: January 2018

Four Ways Ping’s Can Make Your Winter Better

Winter is not the most popular season in central Indiana.  It is often cold and dark and full of unpredictable weather.  But Hoosiers are good at looking at the bright side of things.  Snow-covered landscapes can be dazzlingly beautiful.  Cold weather can lead to cozy evenings with your favorite family or friends.  And inclement weather often provides opportunities to help or be helped by neighbors.  At Ping’s, we view winter as a time when we can offer services to make the season a good one for our customers.  With the required expertise as well as the necessary snow removal and tree service equipment, Ping’s can make your winter better in these four ways.

1. Snow Removal Service

One frustrating aspect of winter in the Midwest is that travel is more difficult.  Snow must be removed from roads in order for vehicles to safely pass.  We are fortunate that local governments take care of public roads. Yet there are still neighborhood streets and commercial parking lots that are not the responsibility of public road crews.  If you are responsible for making sure that a lot or subdivision is kept clear, Ping’s can help.  You tell us the trigger for plowing, and when we receive that amount of snow, we will send out a crew.  Day or night, you don’t have to worry.  Our snow removal service let you rest assured that snow and ice will be dealt with promptly.

2. Removing Dead or Dangerous Trees

Winter weather brings with it conditions that can quickly take down a dead, dying, or otherwise weakened tree.  Strong winds, ice accumulation, or even heavy snowfall can put stress on trees.  Those that are vulnerable may lose large limbs or even topple completely.  At this point, you may experience more damage than just tree loss.  If a branch falls on a car, house, or commercial building, the results can be devastating.  No one wants to deal with the property damage and personal injury that can occur when a tree or branch falls.  If you know you have a vulnerable tree, Ping’s can help you avoid disaster by removing it now before nature gets the chance to take it out.  We have the tree service equipment required to make an easy fix to a potentially dangerous situation.

3. Emergency Service

Sometimes even with the best of forethought and preparation, winter weather will deliver a punch you weren’t expecting.  Even healthy trees can sometimes fall victim to gusty winds and weighty precipitation.  When this happens to you, Ping’s will help you make the best of it.  Our emergency tree service is available 24/7 to provide quick clean-up help.  We are ready to send our crews out anytime you need us, and we will see that the mess is taken care of safely and efficiently.

4. Getting Ready for Spring

One final way that Ping’s can help make your winter a little brighter is by helping you get ready for spring.  It doesn’t take long for most of us to tire of the dreariness of winter.  We start to dream of spring long before it arrives.  Ping’s can help you put your dreams into action.  Winter is a good time to trim up trees, getting them ready to grow as soon as the weather turns warmer.  We can also help you devise a plan for lawn care or landscaping during the warmer seasons.  After all, it won’t be long until you’ll be mowing your grass instead of scooping snow!

So sit back, enjoy the best of winter, and let Ping’s make the colder months more bearable.  Right now, we are offering a 15% discount on qualifying services performed before February 28th, 2018.  Call us today (317-298-8482) and let us know how we can help!

This post first appeared on https://pingstreeservice.com

Trees really are amazing, and the more you know about them, the more amazing they appear.  For starters, their resiliency and their ability to endure the ever-changing environment is impressive. Have you ever thought about how trees survive the winter here in blustery Central Indiana?  Keep reading to learn more about trees and their amazing ability to tolerate harsh winter conditions.

Dormancy Reduces Trees’ Needs

It’s no secret that most trees lose their leaves in the fall.  This natural occurrence leaves trees without a way to produce food.  Green leaves convert sunlight into energy through the process of photosynthesis.  This energy is the tree’s food, which it uses to grow and function.   Obviously, there are no green leaves in the winter, which means no food is being produced.  Fortunately, trees handle this quite efficiently.  They simply go dormant in the winter.  During dormancy, trees do not grow and their metabolism slows down.  They only perform essential biologic functions, thus conserving energy.  The limited energy needs are met with food that has been stored in cells during sunny summer days.  When spring comes and the days lengthen and brighten, leaves again emerge and trees come out of dormancy.

Cellular Changes Keep Trees from Freezing

Lack of food is only part of the problem created by winter weather.  Trees also have to endure freezing temperatures.  They do not have the ability to move to a warmer climate or to shelter themselves in any way.  But they do have the ability to make incredible changes to their own cells that protect them from the cold.  One change is that cell membranes become more pliable, which allows water to move more freely out of the cell.  Secondly, the cells convert stored starch into sugar, which is used to sweeten the fluid within the cell.  This sweetened liquid has a lower freezing point so the water inside remains unfrozen while the water outside of the cell freezes.  Finally, the cell liquid itself actually transforms into an almost solid state which keeps the cell from crystalizing.  (For a more detailed explanation of these cellular changes, you can see this article.)

Trees are remarkable in their ability to deal with winter weather.  At Ping’s we think that this is only one of the ways that trees are amazing.  Our business is dedicated to providing the best preventative tree care as well as responding quickly and efficiently to tree problems and emergencies.  Call us for a free estimate and our expert arborists and technicians will help you protect these miraculous plants.

This post first appeared on https://pingstreeservice.com

Tree roots constantly seek a water source, in doing so, they can spread very deep or very shallow and in a very large radius from the trunk. When roots spread at shallow depths, they will find their way under asphalt, sidewalks, and yes, driveways.

As the roots naturally expand and thicken, they will displace everything around them creating tremendous potential energy. This energy is usually released upward (path of least resistance), resulting in the breaking, cracking, warping, or buckling of whatever structure is above.

Here, we will discuss measures you can take to repair damaged concrete, remove damaging roots, and how to avoid this issue in the future.

How Much of the Tree’s Roots Can Be Removed

The answer to this isn’t quite as simple as it may seem. Here are some factors to consider:

Tree Roots Three Inches or More in Diameter – When cutting roots this size, they typically will not grow back. However, a wound this large leaves the root susceptible to insect and disease. Often times, this allows rot to reach all the way back to the trunk, seriously compromising the health of the tree.

Tree Roots Less Than Two Inches in Diameter – Tree roots this size are typically able to regenerate. Removing them will only e a temporary fix.

Tree Roots Grow Far and Wide – Typically, you will find that one inch converts to about a foot and a half. That is, for every inch at DBH (Diameter at Breast Height – measured 4.5 feet above the ground), the roots will extend up to a foot and a half away from the tree trunk. A twelve inch trunk at DBH means roots are extending up to eighteen feet away from the trunk in every direction.

Tree Roots Are Sensitive to Disturbance – Tree roots seek out uncompacted soil rich in oxygen (like the soil under sidewalks and driveways). When the soil underneath a tree is compacted by heavy machinery or used as a storage area for a construction site, the roots beneath the surface are literally being choked to death. Eventually, this will result in the decline of the tree’s health, leading to its death.

Tree Roots Under the Driveway – Roots provide structural integrity to a tree. If they have grown under the driveway, the driveway is now a part of its structural integrity. Depending on the size and depth of the roots, removing them may lead to the falling of the tree in severe weather.

More often than not, by the time tree roots have buckled your driveway, you may be faced with the ultimate removal of the tree, if you are to break up and re-lay the affected portion of the driveway.

How to Repair Your Driveway and Save Tree Roots

If the tree is a keeper in your landscape and the roots in question are vital to its survival, there are construction options or methods which will allow the coexistence of the roots and your driveway. Here is one of the multiple options you may use:

Aggregate Surfacing – This technique requires the cutting and careful removal of the damaged concrete. Once the concrete has been removed, the surface below is covered with driveway fabric (aka: geotextile fabric), then four to five inches of dense grade aggregate (DGA) or road stone. The project is completed by using edging along the sides to prevent the aggregate from spreading laterally.

Tree Species, Watering, and Location Matter

Ultimately, it is the lack of planning or the proper information to form a plan that lead to situations such as these. Before planting a tree, you should be aware of its species, potential growth, root spread capacity, and if its roots are typically classified as invasive or not.

Location is a key factor in the survival of any tree or plant. Planting a tree too close to a structure is like inviting a bull into a china cabinet. As trees grow, they instinctively seek out water sources, expand their canopies, and potentially wreak havoc on the structure they were planted next to.

Once a tree is planted, frequent watering will help its root system to grow deeper. Shallow root systems often reflect insufficient watering or compacted soil further beneath the surface.

To learn more about proper planting, see: http://treecareadvice.blogspot.com/2015/12/properly-planting-canadian-hemlock.html

Professional Tree and Tree Root Removal

While the solution you choose may be an easy one, innocent mistakes may lead to a much more serious situation as your tree’s health declines and ultimately dies.

Before any steps are taken to remove a tree or a portion of its root system, it is highly recommended to seek the advice of a certified arborist. An arborist is a tree professional trained to spot trouble pertaining to tree issues and how to efficiently resolve them.

This article was first published on: http://www.72tree.com/tree-roots-buckling-concrete-driveway/