What do I do with my tree branches after a storm?

May 31—Dear Answer Man: The storm that came through recently knocked a lot of branches onto the ground from the trees in my yard and along the boulevard on my street. Do I need to do something with these or will the city clean them up? — Adverse to Yard Work.

Dear Yard Work,

Whether it rains and the grass grows — necessitating mowing — or the sun shines too much — water your lawn — or the wind blows too hard, Mother Nature can make yard work harder.

No one's a fan. A wise Answer Man knows you can't beat the weather.

But cleaning up after, that I know about.

The city of Rochester received about 350 calls asking for help to cut down, haul off or otherwise help with the cleanup. Jeff Haberman, city forester, said crews are working their way down the list.

"We have had everything from small limbs to whole tree failures on both public and private property and trees damaged so severely they must also be removed," Haberman said.

Haberman said some people have called more than once since the whole process takes time, and the city is getting more calls but the rate, thankfully, has slowed.

"I would expect a couple of more weeks before we are completely caught up," he added.

Haberman added the city owns and maintains all trees on public property including boulevards — that space of right-of-way usually between the curb and the sidewalk.

However, if you're one of those folks whose trees are not on public property, sadly, the job of cleaning it up is yours and yours alone. The city takes general yard waste — limbs, branches they can handle — at a brush dump owned by Hathaway Tree Service at 2555 50th Ave. NW, which serves as the city's wood waste facility. Mulch can go to the Olmsted County Compost Site at 305 Silver Creek Road NE.

In the meantime, let's hope we're done with broken branches for the remainder of the summer.

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