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Strength of different trees

damaged tree

Some trees are stronger than others and are less prone to breakage. Those that compartmentalize decay best resist its spread and usually live longer than trees that rot quickly following injury.

Water oak (a poor compartmentalizer, right photo) and live oak (a good compartmentalizer, left photo) present a fairly clear comparison. Water oak lives about 80 years under ideal conditions whereas live oak lasts 150 year or more.

One of the main reasons for this is that decay in water oak progresses fairly rapidly following injury such as branch breakage and large pruning cuts. Live oaks are much better able to seal off the decay organisms that cause decay and cracks in wood.

trees lining street