SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — One of the dozen largest trees that fell during this week's Santa Ana winds was a pine tree, but the rest were all of the eucalyptus variety.
You can find these trees all around the county, and they've been in California since the late 1800s. They were planted by the thousands to build railroads.
These trees ended up being too brittle to support trains. They're also not ideal for handling powerful wind.
"Eucalyptus has a really dense, heavy wood. So you end up with a lot of weight up above the ground," said Lloyd Snapp, who works at an Escondido tree nursery. "It can make it a little bit trickier for the roots to counterbalance that or hold that up when you get a lot of resistance from the wind."
Snapp says this month's rainfall also makes it harder for trees to stand up to strong winds.
"When the ground gets saturated, it gets a lot softer," said Snapp. "It makes it a little bit harder for the roots to hold their ground. They can let loose and then the trees will topple over."
Sometimes, the tree's location makes a big difference.
"The soil composition. If there's a lot of rocks or granite in the soil the roots can't go as deep," said Snapp.
He says now is the perfect time to protect your trees from falling down.
"If you're gonna do any major pruning or thinning, it's best to do that in the fall or the winter in preparation for the rainy season — and when wildlife isn't as active," said Snapp. "Professionally pruned trees, thinned out... They're gonna fare a lot better than the trees that are essentially growing wild."
