[yorkie]

I have wondered - why don’t people secure the trees near their house, with heavy wire, and deep spikes, when high winds are predicted?

[Interesting Times]

I have wondered - why don’t people secure the trees near their house, with heavy wire, and deep spikes, when high winds are predicted?

Probably because a big tree would need battleship cable and spikes that go 35 feet deep.

[jersey117]

Would that work with 60 year old oak trees?

[Think free or die]

"I have wondered - why don’t people secure the trees near their house, with heavy wire, and deep spikes, when high winds are predicted?"

A lot depends on the types of trees that grow well in your soil and weather conditions. Pennsylvania is very wooded, and many of those trees are tall. Most of the trees near our house are about 100 feet tall. When they go, they go, pulling up or crushing anything in their path. That said, we have one of our trees internally cabled. It has a deep vee, so the two sides are cabled together to prevent splitting. The whole tree could still uproot however, or it could drop a large limb. When it dropped a large waterlogged limb on top of my minivan a couple of years ago, I ended up with a new roof, windshield, and a lot of repaired dents and new paint. Every region has its risks and benefits . . . so it goes.

[Tea Party Hobbit]

I've been told the weight of three trees that had to be lifted off people's houses. The figure I remember was seven tons; I believe that was the heaviest of the three.

A big tree will pretty much go where it wants to go -- and whenever it wants to. It's no crime to cut them down.