Is It Time To Get That Stump Removed?

Alamo Tree Removal

Tree stumps bring with them no benefits and plenty of risks. For many reasons, you should consider getting the tree stump removed from your yard.

When To Remove A Stump

Tree stumps can be physically removed at any time. Having an arborist remove the stump when felling the tree is the most convenient way to remove a stump. But they can still be removed at any time, if you’ve missed that opportunity. So why do it now?

5 Reasons Getting Your Tree Stump Removed is Important

Tree Stumps Are Hazardous

Stumps left on your property are far below eye level, and often blend into the landscape quite well. They can be a danger to children, neighbors, or visitors as a tripping hazard. They’ll also cost you money if you or your mowing service accidentally hits the stump when mowing your lawn, requiring a trip to the repair shop. Tree stumps create a liability on your property.

Curb Appeal

Whatever else tree stumps are, they’re certainly not pretty. They look the opposite of alive and healthy, which is how you want your landscape to look. Removing your stump means getting rid of an eyesore- your property will look better, and your neighbors will thank you.

Fresh Tree Stumps Cause Unsightly Re-Growth

When some species of trees are cut down close to or just above grade, they continue to generate sucker growth from the stump. If this happens you could spend time and money cutting down the suckers or spraying them with herbicides.

These suckers also take precious nutrients from the soil, and other parts of your landscape may suffer. If left to grow, these re-growing trees turn into ugly bushes. They won’t look like their former, proper form. These suckers are also poorly connected to their rotating trunk and can even become a safety hazard later if left be.

Stumps Attract Bugs

An old stump sitting in your backyard is like a readymade home for all sorts of insects. And they often attract white ants or termites, which could mean risking the safety of your home. The most worrying of these is probably termites. They’re drawn to exposed wood and will set up a colony in your stump. From there, it’s an easy trip to your house, and you do not want that. Even if your old stump doesn’t attract termites, it could attract other lawn pests, so you’re better off bidding it goodbye.

Space

In a garden bed, a tree stump takes up valuable planting space. The stump can take up space preventing you from planting new trees, enlarging your vegetable or flower garden, building a play area for your kids, setting up a picnic table, or adding a pool. If you have a project planned, the stump may obstruct driveways you need access to or slow construction. Tree stump removal will allow you to make the best use of your space.

Certainly, if you need stump removal, contact Sexy Trees today. Hiring a professional is more affordable than you may realize and will be money well spent.

Why Remove a Tree Stump – Stump Removal

Walnut Creek Tree Pruning

Tree stumps are bad news. Generally unsightly on any property, they’re also trip dangers and can attract white ants and termites.  They obstruct driveways, construction, and landscape design. They, unlike most things, actually have nothing good to offer. 

 

Why Remove It

Tree stumps aren’t just ugly and inconvenient. If you let a stump remain in your yard, the tree can actually regrow, and roots and continue to spread. This can complicate your life in many ways, including damaging sewage and other underground lines, and above ground fences and structures. Depending on the type of tree, the roots may begin growing another above ground tree in a different location that the original stump. Basically, keeping the stump means keeping a lot of guessing and worry too.

Stump Removal is Hard to Do Yourself

Deciding to do it on your own requires a lot of time, muscle, patience, and some tools you may not have. There are tool rental businesses where you can rent some of the things you may be missing, but you won’t find a stump grinder there. It’s too specialized to be useful for most people. 

If you do successfully extract all the root material needed to ensure the tree stays gone, there’s a really high chance that you’ll also destroy all the surrounding property, especially if you’re trying to remove an entire tree instead of a stump. Removing a tree stump is certainly not impossible to do yourself. The hardest part may be knowing if you’ve done the job fully. 

 

Having it Professionally Removed is Worth the Trouble

Professional arborists and tree removers can remove a stump (or whole tree) and ensure the tree doesn’t return. Using specifically designed grinders, the work goes quickly. Aside from having the right skills and tools, professionals also take the burden of clean up off your plate.

We can make the work of stump removal no harder than a phone call for you. Call Sexy Trees today about having your stump or sick tree removed.

How to Identify a Dying Tree

Concord Tree Removal

 

Sexy Trees always wants to preserve and beautify the world with healthy trees. However, tree care sometimes means tree removal.  A dying tree, depending on the reason, can become a cancer to surrounding areas along with being a big eye sore.  Most of us are unable to know how to identify a dying tree, especially during the winter.

Signs of a Dying Tree

Since deciduous trees lose their leaves in the winter, it is hard to be sure whether the tree is dying or just going through its healthy annual cycle.  It’s important to know whether the leaf loss has been on-going or started in the fall. Pay attention to the tree’s behavior over a period of time to be certain of the full scope of the problem.  You’ll need to take this into consideration with other possible signs of a deteriorating tree.

 

Other hallmarks of a dying tree are discoloration, bark becoming brittle, and/or limbs falling off.  Most of us walk by our trees regularly but may not notice changes right away. Sometimes people see that a tree just doesn’t look right, but can’t pinpoint why.  It can be similar to approaching a person who has a cold.  You’ll notice that their color is off, they maybe clammy, and are just sluggish.  A dying tree will have subtle signs of distress showing that something is just not right.

 

Once you have a concern about a tree being in trouble, what should you do?  Just like you call a doctor to check on a sick person, you should contact a local certified arborist or a specialist in tree care to properly evaluate the tree.  Sometimes a dying tree can be saved by changing a few small things.  Other times, nothing can be done and it’s best to remove the tree.

 

We’ve seen many trees die over the past year as a direct result of the drought conditions.  In fact, local city councils like in Danville, San Ramon, Lafayette, and Walnut Creek have had to spend monies to either repair or replace numerous trees.

 

Sexy Trees has a certified arborist with years of experience.  If you are concerned about a particular tree or have questions, feel free to contact us at Sexytrees.com.

 

 

Lafayette Tree Removal – Cedar Tree

Walnut Creek Tree Care

5 Signs You Need To Remove A Tree

Lafayette Tree Pruning

Trees make a beautiful and important contribution to our gardens and environment, so it’s a priority to preserve them wherever possible. However, sometimes despite our best efforts, trees need to be removed. While its best to avoid tree removal, there are circumstances where a tree must be removed. Here we look at 5 signs that can help you identify when you may need to remove a tree, and why tree removal can sometimes be very necessary.

The Tree Is Dead

When a tree is well and truly dead, most homeowners would prefer to remove it. Dead trees may be left behind in larger properties to provide homes for woodpeckers and other animals and insects. However, most homeowners with more compact yards prefer to remove dead trees for aesthetic reasons and to eliminate the possibility of spreading disease. Removing a dead tree of any size can be safely done by a qualified and skilled arborist.

The Tree Is Rotting or Diseased

If a tree is more than 50% dead or damaged, it’s large leader beaches are dead, or 50% of the root systems have been damaged, it’s probably necessary to remove the tree. If the tree is visibly rotten it should be removed, and if you notice large fungi growing near the base of the tree, the tree could be internally rotten. In this case the tree should be evaluated by an arborist, but may need removal.

Lafayette tree removal service

The Tree is Dangerous

Is the tree growing under power lines or near buildings or fences? Is the tree leaning or imbalanced with all branches on one side missing? A tree that is leaning or lopsided should be evaluated by an arborist as soon as possible as it could present a significant hazard. Trees that are leaning more than 15% will need to be removed in most cases.

The Tree Is Unsuitable for the Space

You or a previous homeowner may have planted the wrong type of tree or planted it in the wrong place. Now your tree is growing out of control or interfering with the plans you have for your home. While it is preferable to call a skilled arborist to provide pruning and corrective care to preserve the tree and try to make it work for your space, you may be left with no option but to remove it. While it’s best to avoid removing healthy trees, discussing your options with an arborist can help you find the best option for you.

The Tree Trunk is Damaged

If a tree’s trunk is damaged with cracks, vertical seams and old wounds, there is a chance it is rotting internally. A tree with a hollow trunk may survive for many years, but may not be stable. Because a professional’s judgement may be needed to decide if the tree is viable or not, you may need to consult with your local arborist. But as a general rule, if less than 25% of the trunk is rotten, damaged or hollow, the tree should be salvageable.

While its best to save trees wherever possible, occasionally there is no choice but to remove a tree. With regular tree care and attention to your trees health, you can preserve your trees, and safely and accurately evaluate whether a tree needs to be removed.

4 Steps To Reviving A Topped Tree

Tree Care Pleasant Hill

A topped tree can be the result of unskillful or over zealous pruning. Topping a tree is when the topmost, healthy, leading branches are chopped off the tree to provide a quick and lazy pruning solution. While tree topping is best avoided in favor of careful and dedicated pruning by your local arborist, if you do have a topped tree, all is not lost. From this point it is critical to seek professional tree care and allow your tree time to heal and regrow if you want to see it thrive again.

Call A Local Arborist

A topped tree needs extra TLC, and your local arborist is the tree professional who can offer it. An arborist can help identify where your tree pruning went wrong, and identify a plan to nurse your topped tree back to health.

Topped trees are weak and unstable and prone to decline, but with the care of your local arborist you can identify the care and corrective pruning your tree needs to flourish again.

Give Your Tree Time

One of the most important things a topped tree needs is time. A topped tree has lost its prime energy and fuel producing leaf growth, and needs time and specialized care to regenerate this growth.

However, you may be happily surprised at how quickly your topped tree starts to put forth new growth. These fresh new branches are called water sprouts, and they need time to establish themselves. Avoid tampering with these sprouts until they have grown to the original height of the tree, as this is a sign the sprouts have established themselves.

Protect Strong Sprouts

The strongest of these initial sprouts are called the leaders. The leaders are the dominant branches that should be the tallest and free from any damage, cracks or pests. These leader branches will become the strong new branches of the tree, so it’s important to protect them and ensure their growth and health is promoted.

Trim Sprouts

In the initial stages of your topped trees healing, there is limited resources and energy to support the new growth, so the strongest and healthiest branches need to be prioritized. Contact an arborist to come and identify the strongest and weakest branches and appropriately prune the weakest branches in order to allow the strongest branches to flourish.

 

The short sprouts that are stronger and look like they could catch up to the new leader should be left to provide additional volume to the new growth. The new leader sprouts need to be monitored in order to support their healthy growth and to ensure the regeneration of the topped tree. This careful pruning process needs to be repeated over the next 4-6 years in order to facilitate the growth of the new branches. Contact a professional arborist to expertly trim the new branches in order to train them and cultivate new growth without limiting the regeneration of your topped tree.

 

A topped tree can be successfully repaired and returned to it’s former glory, but it does take some extra time, care and attention from you and your local arborist to bring your tree back to full health.

How To Care For Your Christmas Tree (And Your Trees At Christmas!)

Tree Service Walnut Creek

Are you planning on bringing home a real Christmas tree this year for an exciting addition to your holiday celebrations? Providing proper care for your fresh cut Christmas tree ensures that it lasts throughout the holiday season and continues to bring joy to your friends, family and guests. When you cut and pick up your tree, more than half of it’s weight is water, so with special tree care and management you can promote the longevity and beauty of your tree. At the same time, as we come into winter, it’s important to also keep in mind the trees in your own backyard, and how they should be best cared for during the holiday season.

At The Tree Lot or Farm
If you want to ensure your tree lasts right through the holiday, it’s important to begin with careful selection when you are buying your tree. Give you tree a quick shake to check that the tree doesn’t drop too many needles, and inspect the tree for brown areas and dryness. Wrap your tree in plastic or a net for the drive home to preserve and protect the branches.

Setting Up Your Tree
Of course, everyone wants to decorate the tree as soon as you bring it home, but it’s important to prepare and set up your tree so it stays fresh and healthy. If your tree was freshly cut when you bought it, you can bring it home and place it immediately in a bucket of water. If your tree was bought pre-cut, it’s necessary to cut an additional inch off the bottom of the trunk before placing in water. Cutting your tree trunk flat is more effective for water absorption than drilling holes.

Water, Water, Water
Arborists and tree experts agree that the most important part of Christmas tree care is ensuring your tree has enough water. You should provide one quart of water for every inch of tree trunk diameter and check the water level everyday. It’s quite normal for a tree to absorb a large amount of water one day and just a little the next. Keeping your tree adequately watered is key to preventing it drying out and dropping needles by the end of December. The temperature of the water is not important and nothing needs to be added to the water either to maintain tree health.

Tree Care at Christmas
It’s also important to care for the other trees in your garden in the cooler holiday season. Call your local arborist for some expert help or advice for the trees and shrubs in your yard, to ensure they stay in perfect health throughout December. Having your local arbborist deliver fresh mulch can help to protect the roots and keep your trees healthy through winter. If there doesn’t seem to be a lot of rainfall during winter, make sure you water your trees and shrubs deeply a few times a week to prevent them drying out.

Taking good care of your Christmas tree during the holiday season helps to ensure the festive cheer this special addition brings can last even longer. It’s also ideal to use this opportunity to take care of the trees in your yard as well, and with professional advice from a qualified arborist you can support and nourish your garden to thrive in the new year.

Moraga Tree Removal

Danville Tree Removal

Check out this great video that shows a tree being removed in Moraga, CA.