FAQs
Q: Once trees become established don’t they basically take care of themselves?
A: While trees growing in the forest and other natural areas can basically take care of themselves, those growing in cities and suburbs need help staying healthy, beautiful and safe. They contend with air pollution, road salt, confined roots, trunk damage, compacted or poor quality soils, improper pruning and other stresses.
Your trees and shrubs are valuable, adding both to the value of your property and the quality of your life. To live long and healthy lives, they need proper care. Regular tree maintenance is recommended every 2-3 years on average.
Q: Our landscaper says they do tree care. Can’t we just have them do it?
A: When you work with Dad’s Tree Service, you benefit from having specially trained professionals care for your trees. A long-time member of TCIA, Dad’s endeavors to follow the most progressive standards and guidelines for tree care. We are also licensed and insured to protect you and our workers.
Q: I’ve gotten estimates for taking care of my trees and there seems to be a wide range of pricing for what seems to be the same kind of work. Why is that?
A: This is the number one question we hear as a tree care company: cost. It is impossible to price a tree removal or pruning job over the phone or without viewing the tree. Every tree and location is different and the cost to remove or prune a tree is based on various factors. This is the primary reason Dad’s does not charge a fee for coming out and providing homeowners with a detailed, written estimate for the services they need.
Price is based on the size of the tree, the method of removal, the location of the tree and its accessibility, and safety factors such as electrical lines nearby or trees that may be over a house.
Make your decision carefully. Work with a professional arborist to develop a long-term plan for the benefit of your stately assets. The low bid may not always the best for your trees. Unskilled (uninsured!) hackers, dirty tools, and unsafe techniques can cost dearly, and wreck your trees, even your property. Compare experience, licensing & insurance coverage, reputation, and written proposals to see if you’re comparing oaks to oaks. Get it in writing! Your contract should detail everything you agreed upon.
Q: What is a professional arborist?
A: An arborist is a specialist trained in the proper care of trees. Professional arborists are properly equipped to provide services such as pruning, tree removal, bracing and cabling, aeration, deep root fertilization, etc. The removal or pruning of large trees can be dangerous and should not be taken lightly. Healthy trees are an asset and investing in proper tree care can add to the value of your property. Dad’s owner, Ron Kronz, is a professional arborist who has served your community since 1993.
Q: Why shouldn’t I just remove all the trees on my property and avoid the risk of a falling tree? Is there really any benefit in investing in my trees?
A: The value of stately, mature trees needs to be carefully assessed before one decides to remove a tree out of fear. There are economic, environmental, and aesthetic benefits of having and maintaining healthy trees. Direct economic benefits are usually associated with energy costs: air-conditioning costs are lower in a tree-shaded home; heating costs are reduced when a home has a windbreak. Trees increase in value from the time they are planted until they mature. Trees are a wise investment of funds because landscaped homes are more valuable than non-landscaped homes. The savings in energy costs and the increase in property value directly benefit each home owner.
Air quality can be improved through the use of trees. Leaves filter the air we breathe by removing dust and other particulates. Rain then washes the pollutants to the ground. Leaves absorb carbon dioxide from the air to form carbohydrates that are used in the plant’s structure and function. In this process, leaves also absorb other air pollutants — such as ozone, carbon monoxide, and sulfur dioxide — and give off oxygen.
Most of us respond to the presence of trees beyond simply observing their beauty. We feel serene, peaceful, restful, and tranquil in a grove of trees. We are ”at home“ there. Hospital patients have been shown to recover from surgery more quickly when their hospital room offered a view of trees.
Under extreme circumstances, even healthy trees can uproot – but these are rare, unusual cases. Regular tree inspection and maintenance can go a long way toward diminishing the danger and damage caused by falling trees and limbs. This is particularly a concern for trees along driveways, pedestrian paths, and surrounding homes and other structures. Also, we recommend pruning trees with low-hanging branches in certain areas in order to eliminate interference with pedestrian and vehicular traffic.
Tree pruning provides a variety of benefits to your trees. Tree pruning for health includes the removal of broken, diseased, or dead branches in order to prevent decay-producing fungi from penetrating and infecting other areas of your tree. The removal of live branches is occasionally necessary to allow increased exposure to sunlight and circulation of air within the canopy.
Q: Should pruning cuts on my trees be sealed in some way?
A: In recent years, research has proven that wound dressings such as paint, tar or other coverings are unnecessary and may harm trees. The coverings may encourage growth of decay-causing fungi. Proper pruning, by cutting through branches at the right location, can do more to limit decay than wound dressing.
Q: When should a tree be removed?
A: There are many reasons for removing suburban and urban trees. Some of the most common reasons are when a tree:
- is dead, dying, or considered irreparably hazardous or infected
- is causing an obstruction or is crowding and causing harm to other trees and the situation is impossible to correct through pruning
- is to be replaced by a more suitable specimen
- should be removed to allow for construction
Q: What is stump grinding?
A: For general purposes, we “grind down” tree stump. By industry standards, stumps are not actually pulled it out or removed with, for example, a backhoe (unless your contractor is doing so for renovations). We use specialized equipment called stump grinders. This equipment precision grinds the stump into a product called stump mulch. This method is highly effective at destroying the stump and preparing the area for planting grass where the tree had previously been. The stump mulch can be removed by the homeowner and disposed of. Stump mulch is generally not good for mulching near the house because it is not treated against termites, and is considered ”dirty mulch”. Dad’s can price removal of the stump mulch for you (in conjunction with the stump grinding service), and filling the remaining hole up with topsoil.
