Tree Pruning and Trimming

This Is Our Tree Pruning Process

If you’ve worked with a tree care company before, you might already know what to expect. If not, knowing can help you prepare and think of any questions you want to ask. Here’s what you can expect when you work with our tree trimming and pruning specialists: 

• We’ll start with a basic inspection to see if anything pops out for safety concerns.
• Visual review of the tree from the ground, looking for dead, hanging, broken, or cracked branches that might fall. Determining urgency if branches may cause home damage.
• Inspection around the trunk and base to see if there are roots on the surface or problems with cracks, sap, fungus, or anything else.
• Check for stress on branches that could lead to collapse.
• Taking vital signs for tree health and risk of breakage.
• Determine if any trees are too close to structures to align with California state requirements.
• Removing any branches that encroach the roofline, block gutters, provide a bridge for rodents to access the house, or cause potential fire safety issues. 
• For regular maintenance and pruning, we’ll ask you about previous experiences with other tree care companies. For example, how often do you get it pruned?

Tree Services Backed by ISA-Certified Arborists

With that information, our arborists and tree care experts will create a custom pruning or trimming plan for your trees. This is how:

• All of our recommendations are based on ISA-Certified Arborist guidelines on trimming and pruning best practices, along with experience with previous trimmings.
• We aim to remove only 20-25% of the foliage to give it better airflow and weight distribution and to reduce “air throw.” Air throw is essentially wind resistance – when a tree sways naturally back and forth in the wind, too much puts extra stress on the branches, which can cause them to break.
• We do not recommend “tree topping.” It has negative effects on the tree. Instead, we do crown thinning, which is trying to thin out the tree to help prevent it from getting taller.