Is my sassafras safe in a storm?
The wood is soft and brittle and it rates intermediate for ice susceptibility — it rarely uproots, but it snaps. The Indiana pattern is a tall, thin-stemmed sassafras that grew up crowded in a fencerow and then got exposed when the neighboring trees came down: under glaze or straight-line wind it loses its leader or drops a limb off the newly sunlit side.
What pruning can and can't prevent
Late winter dormant work only, and go light. The species trap is that heavy pruning provokes suckering — cut it back hard and it answers with a thicket of root sprouts out well past the dripline, so a "just cut it back off the roof" job turns into an annual sucker-mowing obligation for the customer.
Related
- How much does it cost to remove a sassafras?→
- Should I remove or save my sassafras?→
- When should a sassafras be pruned?→
- Are sassafras roots a problem for foundations or pipes?→
- Is my sassafras dying or just stressed?→
- How much does it cost to remove an american basswood?→
- Should I remove or save my american basswood?→
- When should an american basswood be pruned?→