"Not so Good Friday" disaster

[c0ps]

Hydro is now back on after 24 hours. Last night's ice storm took a terrible turn for the worst. I lost THREE of my best producers - - uprooted and ripped right out of the ground. Sap jugs crushed. I even heard the trees coming crashing down, but had to wait until sunrise to see the extent of the damage. It didn't get warm enough today to melt off the ice, so all of my trees are still in serious jeopardy. Many of my other trees have sustained major damage including my lilacs, hazelnut, smokebush, honeysuckle, pussywillow, beauty bush, heritage apple, mountain ash, black cherry, the list goes on. If the wind picks up tonight, there will be more casualties by morning. With the amount of ice we had it's no wonder the trees couldn't keep from breaking. Hopefully others in my area have faired better.

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Karen. I am in the same boat as you. Im also in caledon and have lost most of my maples. I registerd just a cpl days ago to share my expsrience and new found hobby, and this happens.

[Run Forest Run!]

Geez cOps, so sorry to hear that you are also in the same boat! How many maples do you (or did you) have?

Mother Nature has certainly kicked our butts with ice in Caledon over the past three years. I lost so many trees here during the Christmas ice storm a couple of years ago that last Fall I even hired a pro come in to clear out the dead wood and trim off the ratty and shredded limbs that were stuck high up in the trees.

Regardless of our current woes, let me officially welcome you to the forum! This setback won't hold us back for long. There are lots of trees in our beautiful countryside, and there are always people who would be thrilled to be part of the process by having you tap some of their trees if the ones on your property aren't useable. If you can find a sugar maple or two, they are still VERY 'tappable' for this year. However, I'd shy away from any soft maples right now as they are currently in various stages of flowering.

Let me know if I can offer any "local" advice as you try your hand at sugaring. Sugaring really is fun, although on days like today it does test your resolve.

[Lespetras]

Karen,

I am so sad for you 😢 What the heck.. Best producers being uprooted. It sucks, I can't believe the storm was that bad

Les

[MaxJ]

Sorry for your loss Karen


Gee we really only had a kiss compared to what happened to you! That looks like the same storm as three years ago that hit we lost a few trees and the others were damaged. It's not bad if a person has a lot of trees, but when the count is on one hand it's a heart wrenching feeling to see the damage that has been done.
I'd hang buckets like Christmas lights on the downed trees, boil up the sap (if any) and use it for the special times to remember the givers.

[BrutemanAl]

Sorry to hear this Karen, that is allot of Ice. I would leave the taps in, what do you have to lose right? If it flows, then you still get "some" sap. Wish you were closer, I am over run with sap right now and I would give you some to make up for your lose.

[Russell Lampron]

Sorry to hear of your loss Karen. I've got so many maples here that I can't tap them all. I wish that I could give you some of them.

Leave the buckets on the trees. The amount of sap that you get now isn't going to make much difference in the overall health of the tree. The only good thing that I can tell you is that the trees are stressed less by limb damage from ice storms etc then they are by drought. They will be fine as long as they don't get blown down too before the ice melts.

[MapleLady]

Karen, I am so sorry to read your post of the ice storm. So many don't realize the damage these storms leave - My heart sunk when I saw the photo of the branch encased in ice on your red mitten. I hope that Easter weekend brings a gentle melt of this ice with no further damage.

Like MaxJ said, you might as well hang as many buckets on the downed trees as possible. As for the other trees, I wouldn't pull the spiles over here, just keep an eye on those trees for further damage and watch for branches that may come down on you. Why waste any sap that will inevitably run down the tree once that spile is gone?

Happy Easter!

[Run Forest Run!]

Thanks everyone for your replies. To update, we haven't yet had any of the ice melt off the trees, but thankfully there was barely a whisper of a wind last night and that's still the case this morning. From what I can see, there aren't any more trees or major limbs on the ground so far. When the ice melts at some point this weekend, and it's safer to go near the trees, I'll take a drill to the downed trees and see if they've got a last gasp of sap running through them.

Russ, thanks for the information about drought vs. ice damage. That's encouraging to know. Also on the plus side, most of the people who live around me still don't have hydro, so I'm fortunate to be able to enjoy a hot coffee with my toast and syrup.

[ridgerunner394]

sorry to hear of the damage Karen! Hopefully you will be on the mend today, lots of strong sunshine to melt that ice! Be cautious around the bush there will be many new widow makers after such a heavy ice load...

We really dodged the bullet here with virtually no ice build up and now lots of sun. Always look forward to your posts, as others have said your enthusiasm is contagious :{)
john

[DrTimPerkins]

Does anyone know if I should continue to collect sap from the remaining trees if they have lost limbs or branches as a result of the storm? The spiles are already in the tree, so the sap is going to come out either way, but if I pull the spiles on the most damaged trees will it help close the holes faster or will it make any difference at all? I don't want to make matters worse....

Hi Karen,

Sorry to hear about this episode. Some of the things we learned from the ice storm of January 1998 are that:
1. Maple trees have an amazing ability to recover lost branches. Even trees with 75% or more branch loss can recover if the growing conditions over the next few years are good.
2. It probably won't make any difference whether the trees are tapped this year or not. The amount of reserves you are taking out (especially if you're not using vacuum) is quite small compared to the total amount the tree has.
3. The trees that are damaged will be fine for production within a year or two (again, depending upon growing conditions).

Hope the ice melts quickly before you get any wind.