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08-01-2016, 02:49 PM
The big poplar tree in front of my house took a bolt of lighting last year -- heard the "pop" then the thunder, then our smoke detectors beeped.
Went outside and a 3" branch had been blown off.
Noticed the other day that there seems to be a split in the bark where the current went to ground.
What are the long-term effects of such a hit? We had a tupelo hit but it was dying already, rotten in the core.
A road widening project may or may not take it this fall but if it's in bad health from the strike I may be willing to give it up. (but keep the lumber!
 )
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I'd say (not an expert, just someone who has had a few trees hit) that if it's still alive, the damage is minimal. Usually the tips of the roots get burned and the tree dies. But if it was hit last fall and came back this spring, it's likely OK.
I started with absolutely nothing. Now, thanks to years of hard work, careful planning, and perseverance, I find I still have most of it left.
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Fred has good thoughts on this.
Sometimes trees hit by lightning die.
Sometimes, they don't.
Time will tell.
Watch for signs that the outer bark is growing over the scar.
That's a good sign that the tree will survive.
...Naval Aviators, that had balz made of brass and the size of bowling balls, getting shot off the deck at night, in heavy seas, hoping that when they leave the deck that the ship is pointed towards the sky and not the water.
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(08-01-2016, 07:37 PM)Martin S. Wrote: Fred has good thoughts on this.
Sometimes trees hit by lightning die.
Sometimes, they don't.
Time will tell.
Watch for signs that the outer bark is growing over the scar.
That's a good sign that the tree will survive.
Seldom, if ever, does a cauterized incision heal itself. The tree is now open to fungi and bacteria. Over the years it will rot inside out.
Better to follow the leader than the pack. Less to step in.
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We had a large pine in our front yard hit by lightning several years ago. The current jumped to a nearby hickory tree then to the roof of our house. It fried every piece of digital equipment I owned; which, in turn, caused an extended fight with my insurance company. We called a professional tree service and had them come out and look at the tree. They pronounced it a loss. Three years later the tree is still alive, even though it has a great scar that spirals down the trunk all the way to the ground. The tree service was back recently on another matter and their arborist said the pine appeared to gave survived the hit and was healthy. I guess that shows that even the experts don't know if a lightning hit will kill a tree. Only time will tell.
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08-02-2016, 11:05 AM
(This post was last modified: 08-02-2016, 11:07 AM by Martin S..)
Michael and Hank...
I have a pecan tree in my front yard that was struck by lightening 10 years ago and had the great spiral scar that has grown over completely. I am not even sure I could find the scar again, it has been so long.
Yes, it is possible that the bark is covering some internal decay, but if you have read the research by Al Shigo, he basically says the tree will try to compartmentalize the damage to prevent decay if it can.
Like I said, sometimes lightning will kill the tree, sometimes it won't. Only time will tell.
Some say if you paint scars it will help the tree resist insects and rot, but that has been argued back and forth for decades, and I am not sure who is winning the argument right now.
Martin
BSF, 1983, with honors
MSF, 1986
...Naval Aviators, that had balz made of brass and the size of bowling balls, getting shot off the deck at night, in heavy seas, hoping that when they leave the deck that the ship is pointed towards the sky and not the water.
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I am no expert by any means. I can offer first hand experience on this subject though. My neighbor had a huge oak tree that took a direct hit about 10-12 years back.
It blew out the top of the tree, and it had a huge black jagged scar running down the side of the tree to the ground. The following year, it leaved out, and only the top of the tree was brown & dead.
The tree didn't grow well, but it was still growing. Near the end of the second year following the strike, the tree was fully leaved out when it fell over & crushed their brand new boat they just bought.
It fell on a bright, clear, sunny day with no wind at all. Without warning, it just gave out & smashed it's way to the ground.
I was cutting my grass when it happened & saw the whole thing.
It scared the crap out of me too.
It shocked me that a tree would just fall for no reason at all.
When they cut it up to remove it, the whole inside looked like
a big charcoal briquette.
Sometimes, you takes your chances.
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Because I heat with wood, I have had the chance to cut down and cut up some lightning struck trees.
Sometimes the lightning will cause steam explosions inside the tree that disconnect along ring lines, or between cells. One 24" Red Oak had half the trunk turned to pulp, the other half was intact enough to split.
I saw a Poplar tree that was near a 18" White Pine that was struck. The middle got blown out of the White Pine, causing the top to land in a pile of trunk shards. The lightning followed the Pine roots along the ground, blowing them out of the ground. It then went up the Poplar, blowing the bark off.
Other lightning struck trees have lasted pretty well. An oak tree that was struck when I was a kid is still living, 50 years later. The ants have moved into the dead wood.
I wouldn't try to make much more than firewood out of a lightning struck tree, because the damage is varied and hidden.
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Took another look at it this afternoon. Looks like a wide piece of bark was blown loose.
Looks like it's not long for the front yard.
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Like William, I've had to cut lightening strike trees. The first was a 50" dbh white oak, took the poor thing a long time to die, sad ending for such a magnificent tree. Second was a Cherry, edge of the field, 18" dbh. There was a large limb broke off, 20' up, thats where the lightening entered, split the trunk in half all the way to the ground.
Had to take an extension ladder out and put several chain binders on it so it would fall in 1 piece.
It blew bark 20+ feet out in the field when it happened, makes one think about how insigificant we are when mother nature gets pizzed.
Ed
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