How to Prepare Your Trees for Oklahoma Storm Season
Oklahoma storm season hits hard. Here's the checklist to protect your property before severe weather arrives.
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Oklahoma sits in the heart of Tornado Alley. From April through June, we see severe thunderstorms, straight-line winds, hail, and ice storms. Your trees are either your property's best defense, or its biggest liability. Here's the storm-prep checklist we recommend for every Edmond and OKC homeowner, based on 20+ years of post-storm cleanup.
- 1. Walk your property and inspect every tree
- 2. Remove the deadwood
- 3. Thin dense canopies
- 4. Address the high-risk species
- 5. Check clearances
- 6. Know who to call BEFORE you need them
- Get your pre-storm assessment
1. Walk your property and inspect every tree
Before storm season starts, do a slow walk around your yard. Look at every tree from base to crown. You're looking for:
- Dead branches hanging in the canopy (they'll be the first to fall)
- Cracks or splits in the trunk or major branch unions
- Mushrooms or fungus at the base (root rot = unstable tree)
- Leaning that's gotten worse since last year
- Co-dominant stems, two trunks of equal size splitting from one point (high failure risk in wind)
2. Remove the deadwood
Dead branches don't bend, they snap. In 60+ mph straight-line winds, dead branches become projectiles. Getting them out before storm season is the single highest-ROI tree work you can do.
Target anything dead, dying, or broken that's 2 inches in diameter or larger. Pay special attention to branches over your roof, driveway, play areas, and power lines.
3. Thin dense canopies
A tree with a thick, dense canopy catches wind like a sail. Thinning the crown by 15 to 20% lets wind pass through instead of pushing against the entire canopy. This dramatically reduces the chance of the tree being uprooted or having major branches torn off.
Don't over-thin, removing more than 25% of the canopy in one year stresses the tree and can trigger weak regrowth.
4. Address the high‑risk species
Some trees are more storm-prone than others. In Oklahoma, the worst offenders:
If you have any of these near your house, get them assessed before April.
- Bradford pear: beautiful in spring, but structurally terrible. Their tight branch angles split apart in any significant wind event.
- Silver maple: fast-growing but weak wood. Branches snap easily.
- Cottonwood: large, heavy, and brittle. Old cottonwoods are especially hazardous.
- Hackberry: prone to mistletoe and rot, which weaken the wood from the inside.
5. Check clearances
Make sure no branches are:
- Within 10 feet of your roof
- Touching or overhanging power lines (call OG&E, they trim for free)
- Hanging over your air conditioning unit, vehicles, or play structures
6. Know who to call BEFORE you need them
After a major storm, every tree service in the metro is booked solid, sometimes for weeks. The companies with crane capability get dispatched first because they can handle the big stuff (trees on houses, trees across roads). Have a tree service's number saved in your phone before storm season, not after.
Get your pre‑storm assessment
We offer free storm-prep inspections, we'll walk your property, flag the high-risk trees, and give you a prioritized plan for what to address first. Call (405) 938-6735 or request an assessment online. Book early, our schedule fills up fast after March.
What we do
Every Tree Service, One Local Crew
How it works
How a Job Goes
- 1
Call or send the form
Tell us about your trees. Bradin gets back to you and sets up a time to look.
- 2
Get a clear quote
We look at the trees with you and give you a free estimate with a clear price. No pressure to book.
- 3
We do it and clean up
The crew shows up when we said, takes the trees down safely and hauls every limb away.
Got a Tree That Has Been Bugging You?
Call (405) 938-6735 or send the form and we will get back to you.