Inside a Saint Paul Tree Service Job

Saint Paul Tree Service takes down, prunes and cleans up trees for homeowners in Saint Paul and the suburbs around it, from Highland Park and Mac-Groveland to the East Side, Como, Hamline-Midway and the river bluffs, and out to Roseville, Maplewood, West St. Paul and the rest of Ramsey County.

The first thing we sort out on any visit is ownership. A tree that stands on the grassy strip between the sidewalk and the street is usually a boulevard tree, and Saint Paul Forestry treats those as publicly owned: planting, trimming, treating, stump removal and removal on a boulevard tree all need a Forestry permit, and Forestry inspects the tree before deciding. The permit has no fee. If the tree you are asking about looks like a city tree, we say so up front, before anyone talks price, so you can call Forestry at 651-266-6400 or apply for a permit.

For a tree on your own lot, we look at three things. First, the tree: species, lean, cracks, dead wood, decay or fungus at the base, the thinning crowns and woodpecker damage that point to emerald ash borer in ash, the browning leaves that can mean oak wilt in a red oak. Second, what sits under it: the house, the garage on the alley, the neighbor's fence, the service wire to your house. Third, the way in. Many Saint Paul lots are narrow, with a garage off the alley and no side yard wide enough for equipment, so the route to the tree often decides the method more than the height does.

Then we write it up. The quote lists each tree, what will be done to it, how the brush and wood will be handled, whether the stump is included, and the price for that line. Nothing is cut until you approve it in writing, and if we find something once the work starts that changes the job, we stop and talk to you first.

A few things we will not do. We do not prune oaks during the spring and early summer months when Saint Paul Forestry and the University of Minnesota Extension advise against it, unless a broken limb has made it unavoidable. We do not cut around energized lines; branches on the pole-to-house wire wait until Xcel Energy disconnects or de-energizes it, and primary lines are Xcel's to clear. And we do not top trees.

What you can count on

• A look at the whole tree, not only the limb you called about
• A clear answer on whether a tree is yours or the city's
• Pruning cuts made at the branch collar, following the ANSI A300 standard
• Ash, oak and elm wood handled with the quarantine and disease rules in mind
• A yard raked out and blown off before we leave

Call (651) 374-8562 or send the form to set up a free estimate.