Then you look up and see one that's cracked at the joint but still hanging. That's when most people start wondering whether the tree needs pruning, or whether it's just been through a bad week. Pruning is selective cutting to take off dead, damaged or overgrown wood while keeping the tree healthy. The quickest way to get an answer for your own tree is to call Homestead Tree of Johnson City. We'll come out, say whether the tree needs anything, and write up a price only if it does.
Does my tree need pruning, or can it wait?
You need pruning when a limb is dead, broken, or hanging where it can drop. It can usually wait when the tree is healthy and the only complaint is looks. Homestead Tree of Johnson City will look at the tree in Johnson City and tell you which it is before quoting anything.
The signs we look for are specific. A bare limb on an otherwise leafy tree in summer. Bark peeling away from a branch. Torn or split ends left from a storm. Two branches rubbing until the bark is raw. A heavy branch reaching out over a spot where people walk or park. After the May storm, with its damaging wind and hail and trees and power lines down across Washington County, including near Johnson City, a limb that's cracked but still attached is the first one to get looked at.
If a limb is tangled in a power line, stay clear and call the utility. That's not a pruning job. And if the tree is healthy and clear of the roof and the driveway, we'll tell you to leave it alone instead of quoting cuts it doesn't need.
Closely related: arborist. Want tree service in Johnson City? Our main page lists everything.
Related reading: Tree Service Pricing: What Drives the Number Up or Down · Signs That Point to Tree Service (and What Causes Them)
What will pruning one tree cost?
Pruning runs $175 to $725 per tree. Tree size, the amount of wood coming off, and whether big limbs need roping down rather than dropping decide where you land in that range. Describe the tree on the call and Homestead Tree of Johnson City can talk through where it likely falls; the exact number goes in writing after we've seen the tree, before any saw starts.
Low-end jobs are small trees with a few dead branches to clip out. Expect the upper figures for a big tree with heavy limbs over a roof, fence or flower bed, where every piece goes down on a rope. Cleanup and hauling move the number too, since a tree that drops a lot of wood costs more to clear than one that needs three cuts.
Two trees the same height can land hundreds of dollars apart, which is why the exact figure waits until we've seen yours.
How do you take a big limb off without hurting the tree?
We take a big limb off in stages so its weight is gone before the final cut. The order is an undercut, then a second cut farther out, then the finish cut outside the collar. Homestead Tree of Johnson City works this way so the bark doesn't tear down the trunk.
The undercut matters because a heavy limb cut from the top alone splits and peels as it falls, and that tear can run into the trunk. The second cut farther out takes off the weight and leaves a short stub that can't tear anything. The finishing cut lands outside the branch collar, the swollen ring where the limb meets the trunk.
A throwline gets a rope over a high branch before anyone has to climb. When a limb is large, or there's a roof, a fence or shrubs underneath, we use that rope to lower it to the ground instead of letting it fall. That protects the tree, the plants below it and your property. Smaller limbs are cut and cleared, and we pick the method limb by limb based on what's under it.
Will it take all day?
That depends on the tree. A handful of dead branches is a short visit; a large tree with several heavy limbs over a structure takes longer. Homestead Tree of Johnson City gives you the timing with the written quote, after seeing the tree, so you're not working from a guess.
The time goes into how many limbs are coming off, whether they have to be roped down, and how much cleanup the yard needs. Access counts too. A tree we can reach easily goes faster than one tucked behind a fence or over a roofline.
What else do you check besides the branches?
We look at the soil around the trunk as well as the limbs, because pruning only helps a tree that's still sound at the roots. Seasonal moisture cycles here move soil, so a disturbed base or a new lean means cutting limbs won't fix it. Homestead Tree of Johnson City will tell you when removal is the honest answer.
If the tree is sound, the work gets priced as pruning. If it isn't, we'll say so before you spend money on limbs that won't save it.
Ready to have someone look at it?
Call Homestead Tree of Johnson City and describe the tree: how tall it is, what the limbs hang over, and what changed after the last storm. The call is just that description and a time for us to see it, with no commitment attached. The written quote follows with the cuts and price spelled out. If the tree doesn't need work, we'll say so.
A Few of the Specifics
On a typical job, the job can include:
- Identify branches to remove, including dead, diseased, broken, rubbing, or crossing branches.
- Pick a sharp tool that fits the branch size and reach: hand pruners for twigs, loppers for bigger limbs, and a pruning saw for large ones.