Drought leaves Edmonton's urban forest shedding branches

If a tree falls in Edmonton, does anyone hear it?

Yeah, lots of people.

Well, maybe not whole trees, but plenty of branches anyway.

It's been so dry this year that hundreds of large branches have cracked and fallen off the city's mature trees.

Jeannette Wheeler, the city's supervisor of urban forests, said this is the driest year since 2009.

Dry weather is stressful for trees, she said, and when there's little rain the trees will use the limited moisture available for the strongest branches, making others more brittle.

"It's not just getting the nutrients it needs, so it's going to start shutting down," she said. "When you get these wind events, and you've got a weak branch to begin with, and the tree is getting brittle because it doesn't have the moisture, there's probably an increased chance of it falling."

More than 800 branches have fallen so far this year. That's 40 per cent more than 2014.

Some branches have been more than 12 feet long. City crews have been kept busy gathering up the dead branches so they can feed them into a wood chipper.

Wheeler said she hopes if the dry weather continues, people will aim their garden hoses not just at their own trees but at the ones the city owns on the boulevards as well.

And she has some advice for people looking for a spot of shade. "Before you park under a tree or maybe have your picnic under a tree, take a look up."