Having trees dropped on property, what to look for?

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H

Hass

Minister of Fire
Mar 20, 2011
528
Alabama, NY
I'm looking to bring in a tree service to fell some trees for me. I could do it myself, but I just plain don't want to. I'm thinking about delimbing the trees myself though, but I'm not sure. I'm sending out emails right now to companies. What should I ask the company for before they begin work? any paperwork? license? Can I look them up online to make sure they're legit?

I'm looking to get about 6-8 pines removed, and a hardwood of some sort. I'll replace them all with some kind of shrub in the spring time to keep the view from the road down. Right now the trees are pretty much all trimmed down so they don't block wind, noise or view. They however, are still able to fall on my house. So all in all, I see them as useless and are better off in my sitting in my stove next season.

Also, what can I expect to pay for this? The trees are about 12-14ft from my house. There's an electrical service line behind them by a few feet so they can't just drop them in the corn field. Unless the power company will disconnect the line and reconnect it later. Any thoughts?
What kind of shrubs would you guys suggest? There's a drainage ditch right there, any time there's rain, water is flowing through it pretty good. Even with just a little bit of rain. So something that likes wet soil is a definitely needed.

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Before you go removing all the limbs, consider that the tree service may want some of the limbs left on one side to encourage the tree to fall away from the house. Also, some arborists prefer to climb up the existing limbs and then work their way down.
 
LLigetfa said:
Before you go removing all the limbs, consider that the tree service may want some of the limbs left on one side to encourage the tree to fall away from the house. Also, some arborists prefer to climb up the existing limbs and then work their way down.
Click to expand...

I planned on asking them beforehand, if they say it'll only save me $50-100, then I won't even bother.
But if you're talking a few hundred $$ difference, then I may do it. I hadn't thought about using the limbs to encourage the tree to fall one way or another though, that's a good idea. if they strap the tree down, I bet they could fell them right down with taking off a minimal amount of limbs. Risk would be higher than taking it down piece by piece... but it's on their insurance if something happens, not mine ;)
 
I would ask to see Liability insurance paperwork As for a replacement tree, eastern white cedar or white spruce makes a great wind break and grow well in wet soil.
 
verify their insurance paperwork. ask for a reference. Then ask for a reference where something went wrong. If they've been falling trees a long time then they've damaged a roof or guttering at some point.

To save on money just pay them to fall the trees. They will leave it in big pieces and you can cut it up at your leisure.
 
I paid $150 each for an arborist to drop 4 trees around my cabin. Except for bucking the pieces that fell across the driveway, they left the rest for me.
 
I think those pines are Scots Pine - definitely some of them are Scots Pine because they have orange bark. The hardwood tree with the seeds hanging off of it appears to be Box Elder because it has opposite branches and lots of seeds hanging from the branch tips. I think the tree with the clothesline attached is Honey Locust judging only by the bark.

For shrubs I suggest Inkberry Holly and Winterberry Holly. Inkberry likes wet soil, is evergreen, and gets about 6 ft tall so you may not have to trim. Winterberry is not evergreen but gets bright red berries in the fall. It will grow in shallow water so it will definitely tolerate your wet soil. There are probably some winterberry around your neighborhood and you can identify them from the bright red berries on bare stems. Winterberry gets about 6 ft tall. I'd plant maybe three inkberry then three winterberry, etc. to make an informal hedge. Another choice might be Blueberry, especially if you have acidic soil. Some varieties of Blueberry get about 6 ft tall, others never get that tall.
 
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