Schnell Tree Service LLC is the leading tree cabling and bracing specialist. Our team is fully trained and has many years of experience in the proper bracing and cabling of trees, delivering seamless results to ensure all trees grow strong. With our cabling and bracing services, you can protect your trees and ensure they look their best and last for generations to come.

Call us at (910) 323-8733 to schedule an assessment or to get a no-obligation quote.

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Tree Bracing

Sometimes, a tree needs a little help to look its best. At Schnell Tree Service LLC, we develop comprehensive solutions to ensure they do. We use high-strength braces and cables to secure tree limbs and prevent them from falling, helping preserve trees so they can grow safely.

Thanks to their complex wood fibers and cellular structure, most trees can hold themselves up for decades or centuries. But some trees need a helping hand. Strong winds, stormy weather, and countless other hazards can cause significant damage to trees, impairing their structural strength and risking their overall health. Our services work to prevent such issues from happening in the first place. We give your trees a little extra strength so you can have peace of mind knowing they'll stand strong. For tree cabling that's safe, smart, and secure, we're the team you can count on.

With our tree bracing and cabling services, you can expect:

Fast turnarounds
Competitive prices
Tailored solutions
Satisfaction guaranteed

Our Tree Bracing Systems Suit a Variety of Objectives

We understand that every tree and landscape has unique challenges and objectives. That’s why we offer customized tree bracing systems tailored to meet a wide range of goals. Whether you want to support a mature tree with structural weaknesses, protect young trees from high winds, or correct the growth pattern of trees with poor form, you can trust our team to take great care and do it right the first time.

Our approach begins with thoroughly assessing your tree’s specific condition and the environmental factors affecting it, including:

Tree species
Age
Direction and speed of prevailing winds
Soil type
Proximity to structures
Pedestrian traffic
…and more!

Based on our thorough evaluation, we create a bracing system using the most suitable materials and techniques. This may involve dynamic cabling to allow for natural movement while providing support or rigid rod bracing for more severe structural concerns. Our solutions stabilize and protect trees while blending in with the natural environment, ensuring our work helps maintain your landscape’s aesthetic integrity.

By customizing our tree bracing systems, we aim to achieve the perfect balance between safety, health, and the beauty of every tree we care for, ensuring its longevity and vitality for years to come.

Bracing New Trees

Our arborists might recommend bracing for newly planted trees under several circumstances to ensure their healthy growth and stability during their critical early development stages. Factors like the tree’s size and species, the conditions of the planting site, exposure to wind or other elements, and the inherent structural vulnerabilities of the tree itself can all influence our recommendation.

For instance, bracing can provide the necessary support to prevent stress damage when a tree is particularly tall and slender, making it prone to bending or swaying excessively.

In areas with high wind exposure or soft soil that might not offer sufficient support, bracing helps to anchor your tree securely, allowing it to establish a robust root system. Our arborists also consider the overall health and condition of your tree. Those showing signs of stress or weakness might benefit from the extra stability that bracing offers.

We can offer you guidance on whether you need to brace a newly planted tree with the long-term health and safety of the tree in mind. We aim to mitigate risks while promoting a sturdy, upright growth pattern.

Bracing a Leaning Tree

We usually consider bracing a leaning tree when the lean poses a risk to its stability, potentially threatening property safety or the tree’s health. Contributors to our decision to recommend bracing include uneven root growth, soil erosion, or windstorm damage that can cause a tree to lean, increasing the likelihood of uprooting or snapping.

Our bracing work provides artificial support to gradually realign the tree’s posture and redistribute the mechanical stress exerted on the tree’s structure. Doing this prevents further or irreparable damage. The duration required to correct a significant tree lean through bracing can vary widely, depending on the tree’s size, age, species, and the extent of the lean.

It might take several years for a tree to stabilize and its root system to adjust and anchor firmly in the new orientation. Throughout this period, regular inspections and adjustments are essential to ensure the bracing system remains effective and doesn’t impede your tree’s growth or damage its bark or branches.

Protect Your Trees with Professional Cabling

Don't go out on a limb when your tree's health is at risk. Our expert cabling and bracing solutions are here to protect your trees and help them grow without risk of toppling. Come what may, with our services, your trees will stand the test of time.

Cabling and bracing are effective preventative measures that can save you time and money on tree care. In the long run, they are the desirable and affordable option for unsafe trees, especially compared to other interventions like tree removal. Topping a tree—cutting off its crown—can stop it from toppling. But it leaves it looking bare and can have long-term effects on its overall health. Better to invest in our cabling and bracing services to play it safe. That way, your trees can continue to grow without cause for concern.

Benefits of tree cabling and bracing include:

Less risk of tree falls
Improved safety
Less chance of damage
Protection against storms, bad weather, and strong winds
Stronger, healthier trees

Why brace / cable a tree?

First, bracing and cabling are two different methods which have the same goal; to strengthen a weakened tree. The main difference is that bracing uses steel rods where cabling instead uses steel cable. Choosing between bracing and cabling depends on the specific situation and the skill level of the professional you have hired.

The reason for the development of this practice is because older trees or weakened trees need our help to continue to survive and look their best. When trees grow, certain branches may grow larger and faster than others. Without bracing or cabling these branches, they will break off in a heavy wind. If a large branch breaks off from the tree it could cause extensive property damage, create an open wound in the tree for insects and disease to enter, and/or cause severe damage to the trees structure, leading to the end of the tree.

There are also species of trees which are very prone to breaking, such as the box elder or silver maple. These trees will almost always require bracing or cabling as high winds will break these massive but frail trees.

How Does Tree Support Affect Growth Patterns?

Some trees grow in ways that are more likely to develop structural weaknesses, such as forming narrow branch unions. Tree support systems like cabling and bracing allow trees, particularly younger ones, to develop more uniformly by enabling healthy growth rather than compensating for structural weakness.

With younger trees, this support is important because their growth patterns aren’t fully established. A young tree with structural defects will almost always develop an unstable form. The support systems we apply provide a more balanced structure that reduces the likelihood of limb failure as the tree matures.

How Does Cabling Affect Tree Health?

Cabling can positively affect tree health by preventing structural failures that poor growth patterns might otherwise cause. Without support, trees with weak branch unions, heavy limbs, or uneven growth are more susceptible to splitting, which can create open wounds that cause infections, rot, or infestations.

Cabling and bracing methods also reduce the stress on branches that might otherwise struggle to support their own weight. This, in turn, limits internal damage and preserves the tree’s vascular system. Without this unnecessary stress, the tree can channel its resources into healthy growth.

What Makes Bracing and Cabling a Viable Alternative to Tree Removal?

Removal might be necessary if your trees are severely damaged or beyond saving due to disease or severe storms. However, bracing and cabling can work as an effective alternative by providing essential support to trees that exhibit recoverable weaknesses or defects.

Removal, in most cases, is a last resort, as it permanently eliminates the tree and its many benefits, including its ecological contributions. It’s also a more significant undertaking that can be impractical or time-consuming if the tree is large or in a sensitive area.

With cabling and bracing, the idea is to prevent branch failure by limiting excessive movement with rods to redistribute weight and reduce stress. These methods can also correct unfavorable growing patterns or cracked branch unions, which otherwise linger as potential hazards.

How Do Tree Experts Select Which Branches To Cable or Brace?

Before we begin work, we need to assess your trees’ eligibility for bracing or cabling. For the tree itself, we consider factors like age, growth patterns, and environmental stressors when making these decisions. For the branches, the selection process involves identifying weak unions, co-dominant stems, and overextended limbs.

Here are the primary factors:

Branch union strength: We evaluate the angle at which branches join the tree trunk or other branches to determine which unions are more likely to fail.
Tree species and growth patterns: Trees with heavy canopies or irregular growth patterns are more prone to limb failure, which can help determine which branches might need support.
Signs of structural defects: We look for cracks, cavities, or decay in branches or at the union points. If any are present, bracing can prevent the affected branch from snapping.
Size and weight of branches: Cabling helps distribute weight to prevent failure in high-risk branches, such as limbs that extend horizontally.
Environmental stressors: We look specifically at trees in areas exposed to strong winds, heavy snowfall, or other environmental stressors where vulnerable branches are more common.

Signs to look for to see if your tree may require bracing/cabling

There are many factors which a trained arborist looks for when inspecting the safety of a tree. Here are a few things for you to look for to see if you need to contact an arborist:

V Crotch connection: a v crotch connection is when a branch is connected to the trunk by a narrow angle. The connection forms a V shape and is structurally a very poor way for a branch to grow.

Proximity to your home: if there are big branches that are looming near your home then it may be good to have those braced or cabled as a preventative measure.

Recently lost a lead branch: if a tree has lost one of its main branches in a storm then you may need to cable some of the remaining branches. Without the protection of the lead branch other branches may be in jeopardy come the next storm.

For Local Tree Cabling, Choose Schnell Tree Service LLC

Years of experience, training, and dedication make us the local area's top choice for tree cabling and bracing. Our expert preventive solutions have helped countless property owners keep themselves safe and their trees resilient, giving them the peace of mind they need to enjoy their yard to the fullest. Whether you have a tree that's damaged or a tree brushing up to your house, you can depend on us for safe, dependable cabling and bracing.

We're happy to answer any questions you may have about our services and what they can do for you. Get in touch, and we'll give you all the information you need to feel safe in our hands—and to see why we're the top team to care for your trees.

Tree Cabling and Bracing Services