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Most big trees in Beaverton are safe, and most of the ones that fail gave notice first. You don't need training to read that notice. You need to know where to look, and which signs mean call today as opposed to keep an eye on it.
By Harry Fauver, founder of Tree Service Beaverton. Updated September 2026.
A rotten tree in the middle of a field is not a hazard, because there is nothing for it to hit. A sound tree over a bedroom is not one either. A hazard is a tree with a real defect that is also within reach of something that matters: a house, a driveway, a play area, a road, a neighbor's roof. Arborists call that something the target.
So when you look at your trees, ask two questions about each. What is wrong with it, if anything? And if it, or its biggest limb, came down, what would be underneath? The trees worth worrying about are the ones where both answers are uncomfortable.
Pick a tag. The same signs apply, with small differences, to cedars, pines and spruces.
A fir or cedar that is dying from the top down has a problem in its roots or its water supply. In western redcedar it is usually drought stress after hot summers. In fir it can be root rot or bark beetles. A dead top is also dead weight that will eventually fall, so it needs dealing with even if the rest of the tree is kept.
When you can see a lot of sky through a fir's crown, and it is covered in undersized cones, the tree is under stress. A distress cone crop is a tree putting its last reserves into seed. On Douglas-fir this is a classic sign of root disease and deserves an inspection.
When a conifer loses its leader, two or more side branches turn upward to replace it. The junction between them is weak, and as the new tops grow heavy they split apart, often forty or more feet above the ground. On a younger tree one leader can be removed. On an older one the tops are reduced.
Tree workers call these widowmakers for a reason. A limb that has snapped but lodged in the branches below it will come down eventually, often on a calm day. If it hangs over a driveway, a path or a patio, keep people out from under it and have it removed.
Conifers bleed pitch to flood out insects and seal wounds. A little is normal. Heavy flows from many points, or from the base, suggest bark beetles or root disease. A vertical crack that you can see into, especially one that was not there last year, means the trunk itself is failing and is urgent.
Mushrooms and shelf fungi on the roots or the butt of the trunk are the visible part of decay inside. Soil that is cracked, mounded or lifting on the side away from a lean means the root plate is moving right now. That is the most urgent sign on this page. Keep everyone away and call.
Pick what you have noticed.
Pick one and the answer appears here.
Call today, and keep clear.
The roots are letting go. Keep people, pets and cars out of the area the tree could reach, which is roughly its own height in every direction, and call a tree service now. If it threatens a road or a line, call 911 as well.
Call today.
A crack you can see into means wood is separating. At a fork, the two halves can part in the next wind. Keep clear of the side the tree would fall toward and have it assessed immediately.
This week, sooner if it is over a path or a drive.
Rope off the ground beneath it. It will fall, the only question is when. It is a quick job for a climber and a dangerous one for a ladder.
Have it inspected this season.
Decay is present, and the question is how much sound wood is left. That needs a proper look, sometimes with sounding or a drill test. Don't wait for winter if the tree could reach the house.
Have it inspected this season.
The cause matters. Drought-stressed cedars can sometimes be helped. A fir with root rot cannot. If it is an ash, assume emerald ash borer and read our ash guide.
Routine. Book pruning before winter.
Dead wood over roofs, drives and walks should come out, and it can be done in any season. A few dead lower branches inside a dense conifer are normal shading-out and nothing to worry about.
Not a defect. A baseline inspection is still worthwhile.
Size by itself is not a reason to remove a tree. If it has never been looked at, one inspection gives you a baseline, and then you know what normal looks like for that tree.
Maples, oaks, cherries and other broadleaf trees fail differently from conifers. They are more likely to drop a large limb or split at a fork than to go over whole. Look for:
The tree removal page has a tagged drawing of these on a bigleaf maple.
Ivy deserves a separate mention. It doesn't feed on the tree, but a heavy load of it adds weight and sail, and it hides the base and the trunk, which are exactly the parts you need to see. Cut it at the ground and let it die off.
We start with the target: what could the tree reach? Then we work from the ground up. At the base we look at the root flare, the soil, and any fungi or cavities, and sound the trunk with a mallet, since a hollow trunk rings differently from a solid one. We look at the trunk for cracks, seams and old wounds, at the forks, and at the crown for dead wood, dieback and balance. If something needs a closer look, a climber goes up.
You get a plain answer in one of four forms: it is fine, prune this, watch this and look again in a year, or it should come down, and why. Where a tree is protected or belongs to an association, we put it in writing with photographs, since that is what the city or a board will ask for.
Look for a new lean, soil cracking or lifting at the base, a fresh crack in the trunk or at a fork, mushrooms or shelf fungi on the roots or lower trunk, and a dead or thinning top. Any of these on a tree that could reach a house or a driveway deserves an inspection.
Not if it has always leaned. Trees that grow at an angle brace themselves with extra wood. A lean that is new or getting worse, especially with cracked or lifting soil on the far side, means the roots are failing and is urgent.
Usually, yes. Mushrooms or shelf fungi growing from the roots or lower trunk are the fruiting bodies of decay inside the wood. The tree may still have enough sound wood to be safe, but it needs to be checked.
Yes. Conifers shed their oldest, innermost needles each autumn, and in some years it is dramatic. Even browning on the inside of the branches is normal. Browning at the branch tips or from the top down is not.
Look them over yourself twice a year, in leaf and after the first big storm. A professional inspection every three to five years is reasonable for large trees near a house, and sooner after construction, trenching or storm damage nearby.
Tell us about the tree and we'll call to set up a site walk. For emergency service, skip the form and call.
