Tree Lightning Protection

What Will Happen if a Lightning Strike Hits One of Your Trees?

Houston is prone to lightning storms and lightning strikes. How often have you been out in a thunderstorm and worried about where lightning will hit? You immediately seek shelter and ways to protect yourself.

Imagine what it must be like for your trees. They stand 20, 50, even 80 feet upwards into the storm clouds. Lightning occurs in the clouds and it typically hits tall objects. Therefore, trees are targets. It’s not just their height that makes them vulnerable but also their sap and moisture content, providing a good conductor of electricity.

Why Do the Arborists at Tree Solutions of Texas Recommend Tree Lightning Protection?

At Tree Solutions of Texas, our arborists recommend a tree lightning protection system for trees at high risk of a lightning strike. Tree lightning protection will not attract lightning and it will not prevent a tree from getting hit. Instead, it simply intercepts the lightning bolt as it travels from the cloud to the earth, providing a harmless conduction of its powerful electrical impulse to the ground without damaging the tree.

What Trees are More Prone to Lightning Strikes?

There are some species that are more prone to damage than others if struck. These include oak, ash, pine, fir, willow and poplar. If a tree is hit, it isn’t an automatic death sentence. It can survive, especially if the damage is contained to just one side of the tree. However, it will need a great deal of care to nurse it back to health.

Damage from a lightning strike not only affects the outside of a tree, but can damage its root system. There is only a 50% chance to restore a tree’s root and for it to produce new leaf growth. Those are not good odds.

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