My bad call on a pine's lean cost me half a day

I thought the pine was leaning away from the house. It twisted mid-fall and took out a garden bed. How do you double-check lean on conifers with dense crowns?

2 comments

2 Comments

wells.olivia1d ago

Honestly I've found that stepping way back is key. Get low and sight up the trunk from a couple angles, even if the crown is thick. Last spring I flagged a suspect Douglas fir by tying a small weight to a string and dangling it from a long pole to see the true center line. The crown was full but the trunk was way off. What methods have worked for you guys when the branches hide everything?

jake_wright491d ago

Yeah totally, the string trick is smart. I'll use my phone as a level sometimes, just hold it against the trunk to see if it's running straight up and down. Feels like cheating, right?