Tree trimming in Bremen, IN, done from the bucket
A good trim keeps the tree and loses the trouble: limbs rubbing the shingles, branches brushing the service wire, dead wood waiting for the next wind. We cut what needs to go and leave a tree that still looks like itself.
Limbs off the roof, gutters and wires
Most trimming calls start with something the tree is touching. A maple limb scraping the roof every time the wind picks up. Branches dropping leaves straight into the gutters. A pine that has grown into the line running from the pole to the house. Left alone, those limbs keep getting heavier, and the one over the roof is the one that comes down in a storm.
From the bucket we can reach the far end of a limb and take it back in pieces, so nothing swings into the house on the way down. We cut back to a healthy branch or the trunk collar rather than leaving stubs, which heal poorly and sprout a mess of new shoots.
Wires need a note of their own. The line from your house to the pole can usually be cleared as part of a normal trim. The big lines along the road belong to the utility, and they clear those themselves. If you're not sure which you've got, we'll tell you at the estimate. There's more on this on our guide to roof and line clearance.
Dead wood out before it falls
Almost every mature yard tree carries some dead wood: a limb shaded out underneath, a branch that died back after a dry summer, a top broken by an ice storm years ago. Dead limbs dry out and get brittle. They don't bend in the wind the way live wood does; they snap, and they tend to do it over the patio or the car.
Taking the dead wood out is one of the most useful things you can do for a big tree, and it doesn't change how the tree looks from the road. It's also the work people put off longest because nothing looks wrong from the ground. We cover what that job involves in detail on our page about deadwood removal.
Trim or take it down?
If half the tree is dead, the trunk is split, or it has started to lean, a trim may only buy time. That's a question for a tree assessment before anyone starts cutting.
How often a yard tree needs it
Most trees do well with a trim every two to three years. Fast growers like silver maple, box elder and willow push new growth quickly and may need it sooner, especially over a roof or a line. Slower trees like oak can go longer between visits. A tree that was trimmed hard once and then ignored often needs a couple of lighter trims to settle back into a good shape.
Timing within the year matters less than people think for most yard trees. The practical rule is simple: get a limb off the roof before storm season, not after it has come through the shingles.
Trimming across the area
We trim yard trees, farm windbreaks and shade trees around town lots from our base in Bremen.
Trimming questions
Not when the cuts are made in the right place and the tree isn't stripped bare. The damage comes from topping, where the whole crown is cut back to stubs that rot and sprout weak regrowth.
Usually, yes, and it goes smoother when the neighbor knows it's happening. We may need to set pieces down on their side, so a quick word with them before the day saves a lot of trouble.
Yes. Pines and spruces along a drive or a field edge get lower limbs raised for clearance and dead branches cut out, the same as a shade tree.