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I had lightning hit a tree in my front yard and went through the ground to my house. Wiped out my TV, microwave, and the electronics on my stove. And my next door neighbor said when it hit (I wasn't home) he needed new underwear.
I have a large oak tree that was hit by lightening and it blew the one root out the ground. The trees is still alive after a good ten years. But I am glad our house was not that close when the bolt hit. I have a well and the pump would probably be the first to go.
I had lightning hit a tree in my front yard and went through the ground to my house. Wiped out my TV, microwave, and the electronics on my stove. And my next door neighbor said when it hit (I wasn't home) he needed new underwear.
That happened to my grandmother’s house once. Lightening hit a huge oak tree just outside the backdoor, then somehow got inside the house and traveled across the floor from the den and through the kitchen. There was linoleum flooring and it split it just like someone cut it with a razor.
Moisture meter reads only 17% 1 inch in. Very low especially for a Spruce. That's a percentage that is good to use for firewood. #Dry
Quote:
Originally Posted by fisheye
Of course the lack of bark and crack where the lightening tracked could eventually cause it to die. I am curious if the application of a pruning sealer on the dead 'crack' would help slow the process; does anybody know?
Fluid flow in trees: ground water is sucked up passively by roots up to leaves, where it evaporates into atmosphere. The fluid pressure dif is supplied by the transpiration process, supplying the impetus for flow, and that flow is thru the xylem (heartwood).
The zylem is not actively metabolizing tissue for the most part and is merely a passive "pipe". The heat caused by the lightning bolt may have fried the zylem enough to disrupt its continuity. The xylem "pipes" supply different areas of the crown-- that's the major reason your pine has one dying section while the other part of the crown looks good.
The phloem (layer just inside the bark) caries sugar produced by photosynthesis either down to the roots or up to other living parts of the tree. The dying section of crown may have been cut off from this source of energy also by the lightning damage.
Whether a tree survives or not after lightning damage depends on what percentage of phloem/zylem was damaged beyond repair and how much of the crown can still be supplied with water by the remaining, good zylem.
To kill a tree by "girdling" it usually requires that you disrupt the phloem all the way around, not just partially .
I now see on my beautiful red Maple, probably 10 -15 years old, the lightning strike. It provides gorgeous red leaves in Fall and now I may have to take it down. This Fall it was a beauty but next Fall ??
I am very sad. I didn't know what it was, now I do.
Well.... It's the last time this tree see's snow. It's been almost record wet with rains all summer, fall and even in winter but it's become apparent its not gonna make it.
Taken Yesterday March 4, 2019.
Today I looked closer and the drying needles has reached halfway up so its obvious its dead.
A tree that stood tall and blocked the summer sun The mini Pine cones it dropped brought joy and fun The blue-green color and the scaly thick bark With the moonlight it shined in the dark
During the Cold Northerly winds it protected It truly was a tree that was respected The birds and wildlife had a place to feel secure In all seasons starring at it felt like a cure
A tree that brought beauty, a tree that showed strength It was the lightning that was just too intense
Some trees survive lightning strikes, some don't. I think it has something to do with if it was a direct hit or not, and I believe some lightning strikes are more powerful than others.
When I was a kid I was at my aunt and uncle's house and they had a maple in their back yard that got struck. I remember big pieces of wood being embedded in the yard 2 feet deep. That tree survived.
About 15 years ago I was walking through the woods and I found a Black Locust tree that had been struck by lightning and did not survive.
I also found a Black Locust that had been struck and burned itself hollow. That obviously did not survive.
I've seen pines that have been struck and survived. Others exploded and were completely destroyed except for the trunk.
A large number of the big cottonwood trees around here have lightning scars on them. The majority survive.
You lost beauty and privacy in one fell swoop, a split second.
Are you planning on planting something else there?....another tree or some kind of fast growing bush?
Every time there is a bad storm I worry more about my trees than anything else.
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