Cables and bolts are another important topic in west Texas. The number one reason is from selecting twins and multiple trunked trees from the nursery. This is a trend and assumed better value. I admit, it often looks appealing. But the truth is that a single trunk tree is many times stronger and more efficient. Let’s take a twin trunk, included bark tree for example. Now picture the root system mirroring the canopy or part of the tree you see above ground. You have a Left and Right side above ground and a Left and Right side below ground. They are bilateral. The Right side above ground is not connected to the Left side below ground and vice versa. This is a real problem! The right side only has support to the direction in which it is leaning and vice versa! This is a physics catastrophy. The solution is to cable the trees together externally or above ground to tie the Right side canopy to the Left side root system. If you have a multiple trunk tree in your or your neighbors yard, that is not cabled, look to see if any of the trunks are pointing towards a home or structure. It is a good idea to have a neighbors tree cabled (with permission) if it will be hitting your house if it fails in a storm. Here is a good example of a twin Red Oak failure that happened in Lubbock. Shown is the Left Trunk and Left roots. The right tree also fell. If they would have been cabled, this would not have happened.