Danger from high cone crop on Fir tree

We have a huge Fir tree in our yard which appears to be having some problems. We had to have some limbs trimmed this year after the winter storms. The tree is now producing thousands of green pine cones, it is even leaning under the weight of them, and they are dropping continually. Is the tree in danger or is it just under a bit of stress from the trimming? I would appreciate any advice you can give me. I would hate to lose the tree but if it falls it will seriously damage the house, as it is quite close. Thank you for your help.

J.W.

Here is my response to your question, if anyone else has some ideas please feel free to comment.

The annual cone production of conifers does vary, for example Douglas-fir trees have a high cone crop approximately every 5 to 7 years. Other years either have very poor or lower cone crops. When there's a heavy cone crop, that's when cone collections are done to provide seeds to grow seedlings for tree planting.

Conifers also produce a higher cone crop when they are under stress, the thought being to reproduce before mortality. So depending on how much pruning was done, the tree could be putting more energy into cone production due to stress, or it's just a coincidence that this is a heavy cone year. There could also be some other stress on the tree, such as root rot.

Since there is danger to your home and also to people, I would recommend consulting a tree specialist, such as a forester, forest technician or arborist, in your town. If you have a number of people to choose from, ask them for references for similar type of work - and check those references. High winds with heavy weight on the branches could lead to more breaking and falling limbs. It may be possible to just remove most of the cones, if that alleviates the problem. This is also a chance to get a general health status of the tree from the specialist. Large trees near homes and structures should be checked periodically to see how susceptible they are to blowing over and causing serious harm or damage.

I hope this helps.