In this San Antonio Express News article, Jess Divin from Davey's East San Antonio office shares how the region's drastic weather patterns have led to an increase in zombie trees.

Posted: October 31, 2024

It’s been a rough few years for San Antonio trees. There was the 2021 freeze, followed by three years of almost continuous drought. If you’re keeping score at home, rainfall was 35 inches below normal for the years 2022 and 2023, with 2024 being not much better. As of this writing, we've had no measurable rainfall since Sept. 5.

The effect of this kind of back-to-back-to-back climate chaos is slowly killing trees across the city and can be seen in two large red oaks on the far North Side, both between 60 and 80 years of age. While half of one appears dead and bare of leaves, the other has an almost full canopy.

Unless rainfall amounts return to normal soon, as many as 95% of all the trees in the San Antonio area are or could become zombie trees, according to Jess Divin, a certified arborist and manager with the Davey Tree Expert Company.

To read more, click here. 

For more information, contact the East San Antonio Davey office.

The Davey Tree Expert Company provides research-driven tree services, grounds maintenance and environmental and utility infrastructure consulting for residential, utility, commercial and environmental partners in the U.S. and Canada. Established in 1880 and headquartered in Kent, Ohio, Davey has over 12,000 employees and is the ninth largest employee-owned company in the U.S. This year, Davey celebrates 45 years of employee ownership – Join us and apply today! 

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