Listen 4 min
Share
Comment on this story Comment
If a tree falls in the suburbs and there are plenty of people around to hear it, what sound does it make?
A chilling one, horrifying even. There’s a ripping sound, as if reality itself is being torn, then a thick and sickening thud.
Fast, informative and written just for locals. Get The 7 DMV newsletter in your inbox every weekday morning. ArrowRight
“It’s almost otherworldly, the kind of sound it makes, especially when you’re not expecting it,” said Patrick Anderson, president of the American Society of Consulting Arborists, a professional association based, appropriately enough, in Forest Hill, Md.
I’d called Anderson to see if he could shed any light on what’s been going on over the past few months on my street. We’ve had three big tree events. The first tree fell from one neighbor’s front yard onto their neighbor’s house, smashing that neighbor’s roof. The second tree fell across the street, barely missing a couple of neighbors who were out for a walk.
Advertisement
I wasn’t around for either of those. I saw the aftermath, but I didn’t hear the crash. But just the other evening my wife and I were sitting in our living room with friends when there was a tremendous roar.
There was something primal to the sound, something uncanny. It made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up, as if the noise had unearthed some deep-seated genetic memory, a memory pulled from the time of my tree-dwelling ancestors.
We ran to the front door and looked up and down the street. Then we saw that a leafy toupee seemed to be peeking over the roof of a neighbor’s house across the street. A tree had fallen from their back neighbor’s yard, across their own backyard and onto their roof.
The sound was the tree’s death rattle.
“It’s a very strange kind of rumbling,” said Anderson, who lives in Shelby, N.C. His house backs onto the woods and he is very familiar with the sound.
Advertisement
What’s been weird about our tree falls is they’re seemingly coming out of the blue. We’re accustomed to thunderstorms, wind storms, ice storms and snowstorms dropping branches and entire trees, cutting off our electricity and cable. But these seem so random. One minute the tree is vertical. The next it’s horizontal.
Share this article Share
Anderson said that to a non-expert, a tree can look fine on the outside while harboring problems inside. There may be rot in the roots or at the base of the tree. (Clumps of mushrooms growing around the base are one worrying indicator that consulting arborists look for, Anderson said.)
Urban and suburban trees have another issue. In a forest, trees are crowded together, each fighting for a sliver of sunlight. In a city, trees are typically spaced apart. The leaves can get plenty of sun from all sides, allowing the trees to branch out and their leafy crowns to become large. That puts more weight at the top than the tree might carry it if grew in a forest.
Advertisement
And then there’s climate change.
“We’re seeing longer, hotter summers,” Anderson said. “We’re seeing warmer winters, of course, which are then associated with a lot of additional moisture. On top of that, we have these extremes, where it’s a really mild winter, then a week that drops down below freezing. … All these things that I just described are kind of a compounding series of stressors on these trees.”
Often we don’t see the stress until years down the road. And besides, the large oaks in my neighborhood are probably going on 100 years old, Anderson said. Nothing lives forever.
Yet another tree fell recently not far from our house. It was at the edge of a playing field on Sligo Creek Parkway. I went over to take a look. It lay on its side like a beached whale. It had broken at the base, leaving a jagged stump. Along one edge, whatever roots had once tethered it to the earth were shattered and exposed.
Advertisement
I walked the length of the tree. It had struck the ground with great force, breaking branches and buckling the trunk. The leaves were still green, with some just turning to red. They rested against the chain link of a baseball backstop and I was glad no game was being played when the tree fell.
I think I have a pretty good idea what sound it made as it keeled over.
As I type this, I’m listening to a different kind of sound: The roar of chain saws and wood chippers cleaning up the tree from across the street.
Share
Comments
John Kelly’s Washington
HAND CURATED
He survived 9/11. Now he helps others touched by disaster.
September 10, 2023
He survived 9/11. Now he helps others touched by disaster.
September 10, 2023
Squirrel! Here are the winners from the 2023 squirrel photo contest.
April 12, 2023
Squirrel! Here are the winners from the 2023 squirrel photo contest.
April 12, 2023
The naked truth about streaking at the University of Maryland
March 18, 2023
The naked truth about streaking at the University of Maryland
March 18, 2023
View 3 more stories
Loading...
View more