Tree Removal in Saint Paul, MN

Tree removal on a Saint Paul lot is mostly a problem of space. A typical back yard has a garage on the alley, a fence on each side and a neighbor's yard within reach of every big limb, so very few mature trees can be felled in one piece. Instead the tree comes apart from the top down: a climber or a lift takes off the smaller limbs, then the heavier wood, then the trunk in sections, and anything that could damage a roof or a fence on the way down is tied off and lowered on a rope. What the tree is standing over, and how a crew gets to it, usually matter more to the method and the price than its height.

Trees that should come out

Some cases are clear: a dead tree, a trunk with a long open crack, a fresh lean with the soil heaved up on one side, mushrooms or conks at the base, or a large hollow. Others are judgment calls, like a healthy silver maple that has simply outgrown a 40-foot lot or a tree whose roots are lifting the garage slab. We tell you what we see, and if pruning would solve the problem, we say that instead.

Spruce and pine that are failing

Not every removal in Saint Paul is an ash. State DNR data analyzed by Axios found the Twin Cities lost about 374,000 spruce and 249,000 pine between 2013 and 2023, mostly to fungal diseases, and the same report notes that Colorado blue spruce, still a common yard tree here, is poorly suited to Minnesota. A spruce that has lost its lower branches and is browning from the inside out rarely recovers. Taking it out before it starts dropping limbs onto a driveway is usually the cleaner job.

Elms, Dutch elm disease and the red ring

Saint Paul Forestry inspectors survey the city every summer for Dutch elm disease. Under the city's ordinance, a diseased or dangerous tree on private property may be ordered removed: Forestry paints a red ring on it, leaves a door tag and mails a letter, and the owner has 30 days to remove the tree and dispose of the wood. For a diseased tree, the stump must also be debarked down to ground level. If you have a letter, show it to us at the estimate and we will write the quote to match the city's specifications.

Wires, roofs and the boulevard

We do not cut near energized lines. If a tree reaches into the pole-to-house service wire, Xcel Energy asks homeowners to call 1-800-895-4999 so the line can be disconnected or de-energized before a qualified tree worker works around it; primary lines are Xcel's to clear. Over roofs, limbs are rigged so they swing away from the house. And if the tree is on the boulevard, it is a city tree, and removing it needs a Saint Paul Forestry permit first.

What happens to the wood

You choose: logs left in rounds, split-length firewood, chips for the garden, or everything hauled away. Ramsey County is inside Minnesota's emerald ash borer quarantine, which regulates moving hardwood firewood and ash wood, so wood from your yard is best used close to home. The stump is a separate line on the quote; grinding it can happen the same day or later.