Old lean, new lean
Trees grow toward light, and many metro Atlanta yards have pines and hardwoods that lean out from a tree line over the lawn. A tree that has leaned the same way for years has built its wood and roots to carry that load. The International Society of Arboriculture lists a lean among the signs worth an arborist’s look, and the one that matters is the change: a tree that was straight last month and is not now.
How to read the base
Stand on the side away from the lean and look at the ground around the trunk:
| What you see | What it suggests |
|---|---|
| Ground flat, no cracks | Roots holding; watch it |
| Soil mounded or cracked in an arc | Roots on that side pulling out |
| Roots visible that were underground | Root plate lifting |
| Water standing at the base after rain | Soggy soil, less grip |
Ground soaked by days of rain grips roots less firmly, which is why trees often uproot after a wet spell rather than during the first gust. A lifting root plate is an urgent job if the tree would reach the house, a driveway, a street or a neighbor’s roof.
Permits for a tree that is going
In Atlanta, the city’s guidance treats a tree that appears to be in the process of falling, such as after a storm, as an emergency: photograph it, call the Arborist Division at 404-330-6874 (leave a message if no one answers, and call back the next business day), and a permit can be issued afterward. A merely leaning tree that is not moving is a dead, dying or hazardous tree application, which the city arborist inspects first, at no charge.
Outside the cities, DeKalb County lets a tree that threatens to become a danger to life or property come down without a notice, as long as a certified arborist, consulting arborist or forester has documented it in a risk assessment. Other cities and counties: see Permits.
Pulling it back
Whether a leaning tree can be saved is a question for an arborist on site. Staking can help a young tree establish; a mature tree whose root plate is lifting is a different case, and cables in the crown do nothing for failing roots. See Cables and braces.
Checked against the sources below on 2026-10-11.