Nobody wants to take down a big tree. It took fifty years to grow, it shades the house, and it's half the reason the lot looked good when you bought it. But a big tree over a roof is also the single heaviest thing on the property, and after enough summer storms across Forsyth County and Cherokee County we've seen what happens when one gives way. Here's how we decide, and what we tell customers.
Start with the lean. Trees grow toward light, so a moderate lean on its own is normal. What matters is whether the lean is new or getting worse, whether the soil on the uphill side of the trunk is cracked or heaving — that means the root plate is lifting — and what's under the tree if it goes. A leaning pine over the woods is a wait-and-see; the same pine over the bedroom is not.
Look at the crown. Dead limbs in the top of a pine or an oak, thinning foliage on one side, bark falling off in sheets, or a trunk that's hollow where a limb broke out years ago are all signs the tree is declining. Fungus — shelf mushrooms on the trunk, or clusters of mushrooms at the base in the fall — means rot inside, and rot at the base is the one that brings whole trees down without warning.
Check the roots. Roots cut for a driveway, a foundation, a pool or a septic line on one side of a tree leave it anchored on the other side only. If a tree lost a lot of root within the last few years and it's leaning toward the cut side, it needs a proper look. Roots heaving a driveway or a walk are a different problem — usually solvable without removing the tree.
Then there's the wood itself. Pines snap; oaks and hickories drop big limbs; sweetgums and poplars grow fast and break easily. Storm damage — a hanging limb, a split leader, a top blown out — is the most common emergency call we get, and it's why we answer the phone around the clock, Sunday through Friday.
What can we do short of removal? A lot. Crown reduction takes weight and sail out of the top so the tree catches less wind. Deadwooding removes the limbs that are going to fall anyway. Raising the canopy gets branches off the roof and away from the lines. Cabling can hold a split leader together on a tree worth keeping. We'll tell you plainly which of these will actually solve your problem and which is delaying the inevitable — and if it does have to come down, we take it apart in sections, roped and lowered, so nothing lands on what's underneath.
If you've got a tree you're worried about anywhere in Ball Ground, Cumming, Canton, Alpharetta or Dawsonville, call (770) 771-2556. We'll come look at it for free and give you a straight answer and a written price for whatever it needs.