What are Tree Trimming and Stump Grinding?

If you own any sort of commercial, residential, investment or rental property with trees on it, tree trimming and stump grinding are two services you may need to take advantage of sooner or later. 

Benefits of Tree Trimming

Tree trimming is the pruning and cutting of trees and shrubs for appearance and safety. Trees that are regularly trimmed and pruned look better. This can increase the value and enhance the appearance of your property. For example houses with good looking foliage out front are often easier to sale or rent.

There are safety reasons for trimming of trees as well, limbs can grow into power lines and buildings. They should definitely cut before this happens. If limbs are not trimmed back you can end up paying thousands of dollars for repairs. If the limbs on your trees grow into a neighbor’s building or the power line you could be liable for the damages.

It is best to have your trees pruned and trimmed by a professional service. Such a service can do the job safely, effectively and quickly. Pruning can be very dangerous especially to those who are inexperienced at it. It can also cause damage that you would have to pay for, for example if the limbs you cut fell on your neighbor’s car, he could sue you.

Something else that people may not realize is that pruning limbs at the wrong time of the year can spread tree-killing funguses and insects. Obviously you do not want to do that.

What is Stump Grinding?

A stump grinder is a special machine that literally turns stumps into sawdust. Such a device can get rid of a stump without tearing up your yard or damaging your lawn or gardens. It can completely and totally get rid of a stump so you can plant a new tree, put in a garden or do some building.

Stump grinding can get property ready for building and get rid of unsightly stumps that are in your way. It has to be done by professional services but it is cheaper, safer and less destructive than traditional alternatives such as bulldozers and dynamite.

Like trimming, stump grinding should be done by the pros because stumps from dead trees need to be removed completely. Such stumps often contain fungal disease and insect pests that can spread to the rest of your trees or shrubs and kill them.

Why You Should Hire a Professional Tree Service

Every summer tens of thousands of homeowners get ripped off because they do not hire a professional tree service. Instead of a trained arborist they hire the guy hanging around the Home Depot parking lot, a neighborhood kid or worse somebody who knocks on their door to take care of their trees.

Using such amateurs is an invitation to disaster because most of them do not know what they are doing. For example they probably will not be able to spot trees that are infected with deadly diseases or infested by tree killing pests. Nor will they be able to spray the trees to prevent the spread of such destructive maladies. Many of these amateurs do not know how to properly trim or prune trees. They often end up damaging trees and your property. Worse they can do hundreds of thousands of dollars to your neighbor’s property that you will end up paying for. To make matters worse, quite a few of the door to door tree maintenance guys are actually professional criminals. Instead of coming to work on your trees, these characters are interested in cleaning out your pocket books quite a few of them actually take money upfront and do not do the work. Others are actually casing your property for burglary. Or they will do a shoddy and substandard job and leave town. These people do not care about your trees or your property. As soon as they get their money they will be gone. There will be no way to get reimbursed for any damage they do to your trees or your property. Worst of all if their amateur work damages your neighbor’s property you will be liable for it. If a limb they cut off falls on your neighbor’s car you will end up paying for the repairs. If they damage the power lines or your neighbor’s roof you will be liable for the repairs. That means you could be sued and the damage will not be covered by your insurance. Therefore you should hire a professional tree service. A professional service will have the proper training, expertise and equipment. It will also be bonded and insured so that any damage done will be covered. More importantly a professional service that is established in the community wants a good reputation. They want to come back year after year to work on your trees. So they will do a good job. The traveling tree services will not. It always pays to hire a professional tree service, the extra money you spend will make life easier for you and your trees.