Tree Trimming & Pruning in Grand Rapids, MI

Tree trimming and pruning in Grand Rapids is mostly about getting trees through winter. With roughly 75 inches of snow in an average season, long limbs over a roof or a driveway collect weight they were never built for, and the ones that fail are usually predictable: limbs with a narrow, V-shaped attachment, branches that have grown long and thin chasing light, and wood that died years ago. Good pruning removes or shortens those parts while leaving the tree's natural shape and enough leaves to keep it healthy. Bad pruning, such as topping a maple flat or stripping out all the inner branches, creates a weaker tree that needs more work later.

What we follow

The industry standard for pruning is ANSI A300, and the International Society of Arboriculture publishes the best-practice guidance that goes with it. In plain terms: make cuts just outside the branch collar instead of flush with the trunk, don't leave stubs, avoid removing more than a modest share of the live canopy at once, and prune with a stated goal for each tree, such as clearance, weight reduction or dead wood removal. Your quote states that goal so you know what the tree will look like afterward.

Clearance the city uses as a guide

The Grand Rapids Forestry Division prunes its own street trees for about 15 feet of clearance over the street, 8 feet over sidewalks and lawns, and 8 feet from buildings, and it removes dead wood over 2 inches in diameter. Those numbers work well on private trees too: 8 feet keeps branches off siding and gutters, and raised limbs let a car or mower pass. Street trees themselves are city property, and residents can't prune them without a permit; the city issues one free of charge for a homeowner to hire a company.

Oaks have their own calendar

Oak wilt is spread by sap beetles that find fresh pruning cuts in spring and early summer. The Michigan DNR asks people not to prune oaks from April 15 to July 15, and the City of Grand Rapids advises avoiding oak trimming from April through September. We prune oaks in the dormant season, usually late fall through winter, and keep maples, lindens and other species on a separate schedule. If a storm breaks an oak limb in June, the DNR recommends covering the fresh wound right away with tree-wound or latex paint; other species should not be painted.

Young trees, cheaper fixes

Plenty of suburban yards around Grand Rapids have trees planted with the house 20 or 30 years ago that have never had a structural pruning. That is the cheapest time to fix a co-dominant trunk or a crowded scaffold limb, because the cuts are small and the tree closes them quickly. Waiting another decade turns a pole-saw job into a climbing job and a small cut into a large wound.

Wires and service lines

Consumers Energy trims around its distribution lines with its own line-clearance contractors. Limbs near the service line from the pole to your house are the owner's responsibility, and the utility will set up a temporary disconnect so pruning can be done safely. We don't cut near energized lines.