Tampa Bay tree care guides

A large limb is cracked, broken, or hanging loose in the canopy after a storm, what arborists call a widowmaker. It can drop without warning days after the wind dies down, so stay out from under it and call for removal instead of pulling it down yourself.

A tree, or any part of it, is touching or resting near a power line. Treat it as energized until the utility company confirms otherwise, and don't let anyone start work until the line issue is handled.

A tree has developed a new lean since the last storm, especially if you notice the soil cracking or heaving around its base. That's a root failure in progress, not something that settles on its own.

You see mushrooms or fungal growth at the base of the trunk or along the major roots. That's decay feeding on the root system, and it usually means the tree is weaker than it looks from the outside.

A dead or dying tree sits within falling distance of your house, driveway, or a neighbor's property. The time to deal with it is before the next named storm, not during one.

Roots are lifting a sidewalk, cracking a foundation, or growing into a septic line. That's a job that needs an arborist's read on the tree and often a separate call for whoever handles the affected structure.