Tree Service in Huntsville, AL

Good tree service in Huntsville starts with the weather. The city sits in what forecasters call Dixie Alley, where long-track tornadoes and violent thunderstorms are most common in spring and again in late fall. Huntsville averages a little over 54 inches of rain a year, with December the wettest month, so trees here often face high wind while the ground around their roots is soaked. Most of the calls we answer come down to the same short list: a tree that has started to lean, a pine that is dying, limbs hanging over the roof, a Bradford pear that split, or a stump left behind after a storm.

Wind and tornado history

Huntsville residents do not need a reminder of what wind does to trees. On November 15, 1989, an F4 tornado ran about 18.5 miles from near Redstone Arsenal across Airport Road and Jones Valley and over Huntsville Mountain toward Brownsboro, killing 21 people. On April 27, 2011, the Super Outbreak knocked out power across most of North Alabama for days and damaged neighborhoods including Anderson Hills and Harvest. Even ordinary spring storms bring down tall, top-heavy trees with weak roots or decayed trunks. Taking a hard look at the big trees closest to the house before March is the cheapest storm preparation there is.

Pines, water oaks and Bradford pears

Three kinds of trees account for a large share of residential tree work around here. Loblolly and shortleaf pines are the main hosts of the southern pine beetle, which attacks stressed trees in numbers, and a pine that turns from green to straw-colored over a few weeks usually needs to come down before it becomes brittle. Water oaks grow fast and shade many older Huntsville lots, but they are short-lived for an oak, often 60 to 80 years, and many of the ones planted in the post-war building boom are now at that age. Bradford pears were planted by the thousands along streets and in front yards; their narrow, crowded forks tend to split in wind, and the trees rarely live much past 25 years.

Hills, clay and limestone

Huntsville is built in a valley ringed by Monte Sano, Huntsville Mountain, Green Mountain and other ridges, over limestone bedrock riddled with caves and springs. That shapes tree work in practical ways. On sloped lots in Jones Valley, Monte Sano or Hampton Cove, a bucket truck may not be able to set up, so a climber does the work with ropes. Where soil is thin over rock, roots spread wide and shallow, which matters for both stability and stump grinding. In wet weeks, clay soil turns soft and rutted under heavy equipment, so we plan the route across the yard and protect the lawn where we can.

City trees and utility lines

The City of Huntsville's Urban Forestry and Horticulture division manages public trees and administers the city tree ordinance in Chapter 27 of the city code. If a tree stands on public right-of-way, talk to the city first; we will tell you during the estimate if a tree looks like it may be the city's. The division also works with Huntsville Utilities, including replacing street trees that are removed for power-line clearance. Any branch touching or tangled in a line is a job for the utility, and we only work on the rest of the tree once the line is clear.

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What happens to the wood and brush

If you cut a limb yourself, the city's sanitation crews will collect tree limbs up to 5 feet long, with up to 10 cubic yards picked up at no charge and fees after that. The city does not collect debris that results from a contractor's work, so when we do the job, chipping and hauling are part of the written quote. You can keep logs for firewood, keep chips for mulch beds, or have everything taken away.

What a free estimate includes

• A close look at each tree: species, lean, dead wood, cracks and decay
• What sits underneath it: roof, carport, fence, pool, driveway, neighbor's yard
• Wires, slopes and gate widths that decide how the work gets done
• A note if the tree may be on city right-of-way or in a historic district
• How brush, logs and the stump will be handled
• One written price per tree, with nothing added unless you approve it

Huntsville is the center of our service area, and we work across Madison County and into neighboring parts of Limestone and Marshall counties. That includes Madison and Harvest to the west, Meridianville, Hazel Green and Toney to the north, New Market, Gurley and Brownsboro to the east, and Owens Cross Roads and the Hampton Cove area to the southeast. The whole region shares the same spring and late-fall storm seasons and the same mix of pines, oaks, sweetgums and Bradford pears. What changes from one town to the next is the terrain, the age of the neighborhoods, who supplies the power, and who owns the trees along the road, and each area page covers what we know about that place.