James R. Collins

You’re doing a post-storm walkthrough of your yard, and you notice a broken branch caught up in the canopy overhead — not on the ground, not obviously about to fall, just sitting there. That’s a widowmaker limbs in Florida yards see constantly after hurricanes, and the fact that it hasn’t fallen yet doesn’t mean it […]

You’re looking at a section of fence that’s crushed flat under a fallen limb, or fence posts that have been slowly leaning and cracking for months with roots visibly running underneath. Either way, the question that actually matters isn’t how to fix it. When it comes to tree-damaged fences in Florida, the real question is

Your drains have been running slower than they used to, or a toilet gurgles every time the washing machine drains, or there’s a strip of your lawn that’s suspiciously greener than the rest of the yard. That last one is the tell most people miss. Root intrusion in sewer lines Florida homeowners deal with often

The wind’s died down, the rain’s stopped, and now you’re standing in your yard looking at a tree that wasn’t leaning yesterday, or a limb hanging by a strip of bark, or soil that’s cracked and heaved up around the base of a trunk. Assessing visible tree damage right after a Florida storm usually starts

You’re standing under a tree — maybe there’s a crack running up the trunk, maybe it’s leaning a little more than you remember, maybe there are mushrooms at the base you’ve never noticed before. The question everyone starts with is “is this dangerous.” That’s the wrong question, actually. Warning signs your tree is structurally hazardous

You’re looking at a pine with small, popcorn-shaped globs of resin wedged into the bark, or needles that have gone from green to a rust-red you’ve never seen on that tree before. That’s usually the moment someone starts searching for help dealing with pine bark beetles in Florida — and the very next question is