intercst
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Built for vertical loads, not side loads, it seems…
Come to think of it, me, too!!
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The competitive pressure to grow higher to get sunshine is the driving force. Enough seeds can then be produced over the years to cover the costs of later falling over.
DB2
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In 2015, had an enormous windstorm in northern Michigan. I had a huge oak tree in front yard that got blown over. Somehow, it did not damage my house. I was amazed at how shallow the root system was. It spread out horizontally quite a bit, but the majority of roots were inches under the surface. It took years for the blowdowns to get cut up, the regional tree service companies and the DNR were overwhelmed by the job. One small town in the area was literally closed to vehicles for a couple of weeks, as the blowdowns were such a dangerous, tangled mess that it was a long, slow process to get the main road cleared.
There was a lady with 2 preteen boys who were caught out in the windstorm, climbing back up a huge, steep sand dune at the park on Lake Michigan. 100mph+ winds. They survived it. When interviewed, lady said it felt like having a sandblaster turned on them at close range. I remember that day well, there were regular weather reports coming in stating how bad it was going to be, and to stay sheltered. Even without those reports, just looking outside at the sky was enough to cause you to seek shelter. I’ve been up that dune they got caught in many times, it’s a phenomenal workout, straight up from the big lake. They would have seen the sky turning incredibly scary, like something out of a movie, and there was zero doubt that it was going to get really, really bad out. But they still decided that they wanted to hike that dune,lol. Lucky they didn’t die.
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Also: Outside of cities and suburbs the majority of trees grow in forests (no surprise) and provide shelter to each other en masse.
In addition, trees roots need access to oxygen and water, both of which are more easily found near the surface.
DB2
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Built for forests, not gardens. Safety in numbers.
The Captain
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Three years ago, a windstorm blew down a 24 inch diameter, 60 foot fir tree on my property. It fell through the back of the garage roof, across the driveway and toward the front of the house. The upper section was caught by a spruce tree next to the house. The top broke off from the impact and fell straight down, missing the front of the house by about 2 feet.
This was a large tree and it was one of three that blew down on our property. The entire root ball pulled out of the ground sideways. The root ball was about 6 feet in diameter and about 3 feet deep. The tree was next to a steep slope without another tree next to it.
It’s generally understood in these rural areas that trees protect each other in windstorms. The branches break the force of the wind and often interlock so they resist the wind as a group instead of singly.
Evergreen trees have shallow root balls and a big windstorm will often bring them down. That’s why volunteers (like DH) go into the national park to cut downed trees that would otherwise block the trails. Sometimes these blowdowns look like a giant pile of pickup sticks.
Wendy
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