Tree Service in Reno, NV

Tree service in Reno is shaped by three things: wind, drought and fire. The city sits at about 4,500 feet in the rain shadow of the Sierra Nevada and averages only about 7.35 inches of precipitation a year, and the afternoon Washoe Zephyr blows through the valley much of the year. Trees here grow under constant water stress, and the weak-wooded species that were planted for fast shade decades ago are now big enough to do real damage when a limb lets go. Most of the calls we answer in Reno come down to one question: is this tree still safe where it stands, and if not, what is the cleanest way to deal with it?

Wind is the usual culprit

Reno does not get hurricanes or ice storms, but it gets strong winter wind. On December 11, 2014, a windstorm pushed gusts to 71 mph at Reno-Tahoe International Airport, the strongest there since 2009. Falling trees and branches on lines caused most of the outages, which reached about 11,000 customers, and the Caughlin Ranch area of Reno was among the hardest hit. Long, heavy limbs over roofs, trees with tight V-shaped forks and trees with decay at old pruning cuts are the ones that fail in wind like that. Thinning and shortening those limbs ahead of time costs far less than the cleanup.

The trees Reno planted, and the ones it now avoids

The City of Reno no longer allows several common trees in the public right-of-way. Its prohibited list includes Siberian elm (elm leaf beetle, limb failure and invasive roots), cottonwood, silver maple and willow (weak, brittle wood and invasive roots), box elder, ash species (borers and aphids), and 'Purple Robe' black locust (poor structure and a high rate of limb failure). The city discourages them on private lots too, but it does not require anyone to remove a healthy one. Many older Reno yards still have exactly these trees, now 40 to 60 feet tall. They are not automatically a problem, but they deserve a closer look than a slow-growing, strong-wooded tree would.

Drought, beetles and dieback

University of Nevada Extension notes that drought-stressed trees are less able to defend themselves against insects and disease. Elm leaf beetle feeds mainly on Siberian elm in northern Nevada; the larvae skeletonize leaves into a lacy brown net, and leaves curl and drop early in summer. The beetle rarely kills a tree by itself, but years of defoliation plus dry soil add up. Pines are a different story: in drought, bark beetles find weakened pines easily, and the 1987 to 1994 drought killed nearly a third of the trees in the Lake Tahoe Basin. A pine that browns from the top down in Reno is worth checking before it becomes a dead, brittle tree next to a house.

Wildfire is part of the picture

The November 2011 Caughlin Fire in southwest Reno, started by arcing power lines, destroyed 26 homes, and the Washoe Drive Fire two months later destroyed 29 more. Homes on the edge of the sagebrush hills need space around them. Nevada's Living With Fire program recommends keeping trees about 10 feet from the house, limbing trees within 10 feet of the home, removing dead trees and ladder fuels, and treating ornamental junipers as extremely flammable. Much of that is tree work, and it is work we do every season.

Whose tree is it?

Before anything is cut, we check ownership. Trees in the city right-of-way or on city property need a Tree Work Permit from Reno Urban Forestry, and removal permits are issued only for trees that are dead, diseased or a public safety hazard. The city also pays to repair sidewalks lifted by city tree roots, while damage from a private tree is the owner's cost. Limbs from a neighbor's tree that hang over your yard are best discussed with the neighbor first, since pruning that harms the tree can create liability. We will tell you which situation you are in before we price anything.

Every estimate is free and written. You get a line for each tree, the work, the cleanup and the price, and nothing is cut until you approve it. Call (775) 600-6504 or send the form with a few photos. Get a free estimate

We work across Reno and the Truckee Meadows, and the trees change with the neighborhood. Near the Truckee River and in older parts of town, lots are smaller and the trees are older and bigger: elms, cottonwoods, silver maples and locusts that often reach over roofs and wires, with tight side yards that make rigging more important than size. In the southwest hills, Caughlin Ranch and other hillside areas mean slopes, pines, junipers and defensible-space work next to open sagebrush. To the north and in the newer subdivisions, trees are younger, yards are often rock xeriscape on drip irrigation, and the common problems are poor early structure, drought stress and trees planted too close to the house. In Sparks and the rest of the valley, we see much the same mix. Wherever you are, the first step is the same: a free visit and a written quote.