Removals, Pruning & Cabling

Proactive tree care is important for personal safety, the protection of your property and prolonging the health of your trees. If you answer yes to any of the questions below, we recommend that you schedule a complimentary evaluation and one of our ISA Certified Arborists will evaluate the safety of your landscape.

Do you have…
Canopies over your house or driveway?
Many branches arising from one point?
Significant lean?
Broken and/or partially attached branches?
Adjacent power lines?
Dead and/or dying branches?
Open cavities and/or cracks?
Decay in old wounds?
Mushroom growth at the base of a tree?
Root damage or recent grade changes in the root zone?

See our Pricing Guidelines, Our Process and our Arborists’ Credentials.

Removals

General Tree Removal

Preserving your trees is our first priority – but sometimes removal is simply the only option. Poor health, inappropriate location and unacceptable risk are common reasons for resorting to removal. Some jobs are routine and others require highly technical skills for maneuvering around buildings or utility lines. Our arborists are trained to evaluate and execute both the simple and the most complex removal projects.

Professionally trained crews and specialized equipment (e.g. crane, aerial lift – bucket truck or our new tracked multi-terrain lift) or hand climbing are employed to safely remove any tree in any location to minimize the risks to your property.

Trees can of course be removed at any time of year. But did you know that winter is a great time for many removals? The frozen ground means there will be minimal damage to lawns, gardens or the forest floor.

Hazardous Tree Removal

If you find a threatening tree requiring immediate removal we have crews available 24/7 and the proper equipment to safely remedy the urgent need. Call our office at 866.683.6222 7am -4pm Monday – Friday. Call our pager during non-business hours at 802.742.6564.

Storm Damage Assistance

When storms approach our crews remain on call and we are available to assist you with all tree-related emergencies. For off-hour emergencies, call our pager 802.742.6564 in VT or NH and we will respond with the help you need. If you are making a claim with your insurance company, we will prepare an invoice to meet their requirements.

Stump Grinding

Eliminate any size stump with our tow-behind or our larger self-propelled stump grinders that have a cutter wheel specifically designed to grind a stump and its root flares into a mulch-like fiber. Typically they penetrate about 4” below grade.

The benefits of stump grinding include aesthetics (stumps are unattractive), utilization (space is reclaimed), safety (eliminate tripping hazards), and maintenance ease (remove mowing obstacles).

We can clean up, add loam and grass seed, plant a replacement tree or shrub or transform the area into a garden bed.

See our Pricing Guidelines, Our Process and our Arborists’ Credentials.

Pruning/Trimming

What many homeowners call ‘trimming’, arborists call ‘pruning’. Proper pruning can extend the life of your trees while making them safer and more aesthetically pleasing. Our industry’s ANSI A300 standards for pruning include: managing for risk and health; developing structure; providing clearance; managing shape or size; and improving for aesthetics, fruit production and wildlife habitat.

To meet these standards, our trimming services include: Crown Cleaning; Structural Tree Pruning; Crown Reduction; Crown Raising & Cut Back; Vista Pruning; Aesthetic Pruning for Ornamental Shrubs & Trees; and Fruit Tree & Orchard Pruning.

Chippers does not perform Tree Topping. This is a harmful and never appropriate practice that stresses the tree and can lead to decay, sunscald, and unnecessary risk and overall decline.

We recommend hiring an ISA Certified Arborist for all tree & shrub trimming on your property that requires climbing, ladders or lifts, but click here to learn about basic proper pruning techniques for small, ‘standing-on-the-ground’ jobs you can do yourself.

See our Pricing Guidelines, Our Process and our Arborists’ Credentials.

Best Time of Year for Pruning

Ornamental trees and shrubs should be pruned either during winter dormancy or after you have enjoyed their blooms. Fruit trees and orchards are best trimmed while dormant. Hedges are best sheared, shaped and tapered in July after the new growth has slowed. Sometimes early shearing is preferred, allowing new growth to soften the cut lines.

In fact, while most other species of trees can be trimmed at any time of year, our arborists recommend pruning your trees during the winter when they are dormant. This prevents the spread of disease, helps the arborist with increased visibility for form development and disease/hazard detection, and minimizes stress to the tree because of leaf loss. As an added bonus, when the ground is frozen there is minimal damage to lawns, gardens or the forest floor.

Crown Cleaning

Crown cleaning is the removal of dead, dying, diseased and crossing branches. The degree of this type of trimming ranges from removing larger limbs (course pruning) to fine pruning (the removal of limbs smaller than an inch in diameter).

Structural Tree Pruning

Trimming large shade trees requires the arborist to account for the tree species natural habit of growth and strength of wood, the tree’s exposure, condition, as well as the leader and branch attachments. Limiting the percentage of live limbs removed along with the client’s expectations are always included in the arborist’s considerations.

Crown Reduction

The height and/or spread of a tree’s crown is reduced by pruning no more than ⅓ of its crown. Using reduction cuts instead of topping cuts maintains crown health.

Crown Raising & Cut Back

Both crown raising and cut back are what could be called functional pruning. Crown raising removes lower branches that may be hanging too low over a sidewalk, driveway or lawn (for mower access).  A cut back is removing a specific branch or branches that may be too close to a building, powerline or parking area.

Vista Tree Pruning

Open and enhance your view by selectively removing limbs that are blocking the view. For those hidden or partially blocked views that need to have trees removed, see our Scenic View Improvements under our Land Enhancement Division.

Aesthetic Pruning (Ornamental Shrubs & Trees)

Working with the ornamental tree or shrub’s habit of growth, timing of bloom and overall condition, our trained arborists will trim to maintain or restore the plant’s intended aesthetic.

Fruit Tree & Orchard Pruning

Generally speaking, fruit trees need to be trimmed for air circulation and light, height control to maintain fruit access, and health by removing dead and diseased limbs. Understanding the fruit species or cultivar helps the arborist work within realistic expectations limited by the trees’ natural habit of growth.

See our Pricing Guidelines, Our Process and our Arborists’ Credentials.

Cabling

Tree Cabling & Bracing

Many trees, large and small, have poor branch attachments and may need additional support. Installing a cable or brace will strengthen a weak branch or leader attachment. Proper installation of cables usually means the cable is high in the crown of the tree for maximum leverage. Bracing with threaded rod is required with less frequency but can add permanent strength to a weak branch union or co-dominant stem.

Adding a cable to a favorite or legacy tree may extends its full beauty and even its life, but is no guarantee that failure will not occur. Any cable or bracing system will require periodic inspections for wear, corrosion, degradation of hardware and damage to the tree. Trees continue to grow and at some point, the optimum leverage is lost, requiring a new cable. An inspection should be performed every three to five years by a qualified arborist to check the system’s condition, position, cable tension and the tree’s structural integrity.

See our Pricing Guidelines, Our Process and our Arborists’ Credentials.