25/10/2026
Days of rain across Brisbane, and more storms forecast for this afternoon. Quick one worth knowing.
Wind cops the blame when a tree comes down. Most of the time it is the ground that let go. A tree is held up by its root plate, the big pancake of roots under the trunk. Soak the soil around it for a week and it stops gripping. The tree has not changed one bit. The dirt around it has. That is why a tree that has stood through twenty storms picks this week to go over.
Through Oxley and Corinda there are a lot of big old gums sitting in clay that holds water for days, and anything along Oxley Creek has had water running past its roots all week.
What to look for, and it is not the branches:
- a lean that was not there last week
- soil cracked or lifted on the opposite side to the lean
- a hump at the base where the ground used to be flat
- water pooling right against the trunk
- roots showing that were not showing before
And the sting in the tail. The risk does not stop when the rain stops. Roots sitting in waterlogged soil run out of oxygen and start dying back, and you see that weeks or months later, usually as thinning up top.
Noticed one leaning more than it was? Send a photo through the website and we will tell you if it is worth worrying about, or the arborist will come out and look. Free quote on 1300 239 626.