Home / Services / Crown raising

Crown Raising in El Dorado Hills

Limbs in your way? Crown raising in El Dorado Hills fixes that. Call us now at (530) 255-2773. We'll send a local tree trimming company that can lift low branches off your sidewalk, driveway or roofline, and we'll book the look-over.

If you've ever ducked under a branch while carrying groceries, this page is for you.

What low limbs look like in El Dorado Hills

Trees grow where they have light. In a small suburban lot, that often means out over the driveway, the walk or the street. A young tree in a front yard looks fine at first. A few years later, the truck mirror is hitting it.

Here are the usual signs you need a lift.

• You duck, or you walk around a branch on the sidewalk.
• The delivery truck or the trash truck scrapes the limbs.
• Leaves rub against the roof or gutter.
• A branch blocks the view when you back out of the driveway.
• Low limbs hide a stop sign or a walkway light.

It's mostly a safety job. A limb at face height is also a hazard for kids on bikes and folks with strollers.

What "raising" means

Raising the crown means taking off the lowest branches. Tree experts at the ISA say it gives buildings, cars, people on foot and views some breathing room.

It is one of four basic kinds of pruning in that brochure. The others are cleaning, thinning and reduction. Raising is the one folks ask for most in town, since there are so many sidewalks.

The cut itself matters. Pruning cuts go just outside the branch collar. UC adds that bad cuts and snapped limbs are how most rot finds its way in. A clean cut helps the tree close its wound. A ragged stub gives rot an open door.

For a big limb, a pro uses a three-step cut. First an undercut about a foot or two from the trunk. Then a top cut a little farther out, so the limb drops without tearing the bark. Last, the stub comes off at the collar. It's slow, and it saves the trunk.

How much can come off

Not as much as you think. The brochure's rule is to leave at least three quarters of the leafy crown in place on any one visit. Older trees get an even lighter hand, while young ones can lose a bit more.

Leaves are the tree's kitchen. Take too many and it can't feed itself. The brochure also says routine thinning doesn't automatically make a tree healthier.

So a good pro raises in small steps over a few years. A tall tree might need a lift every year or two while it's young. An older tree may need only one, and then it's done.

Timing for crown raising in El Dorado Hills

The brochure says most routine pruning to take off weak or dead limbs can happen any time of year. Growth and wound healing are best if pruning happens before the spring growth flush. It also says to hold off on hard cuts into living wood right as spring growth bursts out.

Oaks have their own season. The Master Gardener rule is winter for leaf-dropping oaks and summer for evergreen ones. Crape myrtles wait for late winter. Pines are better in October through January, since bark beetles fly the rest of the year. See the prune-by-month page.

Whose tree is it?

A tree on your lot is yours to look after, even when its limbs hang over a public sidewalk. A tree in a strip of ground next to the street might not be. Not sure? Ask the county or your city before anyone cuts.

A limb that touches a power line is a different matter. Don't climb for that. See limbs near power lines.

What crown raising in El Dorado Hills costs

Price depends on the tree's height and how much needs to come off. Here are ranges from Fixr, a national cost guide.

HomeYou lists hourly rates of $86 to $148, and says rates for large trees run $88 to $152 an hour. Thumbtack puts the average at $60 to $80 per hour. A chipper adds $50 to $100 on Thumbtack's numbers, and some pros leave you the chips for mulch.

Fixr says a rush or emergency call can tack on $50 to $200, sometimes more. A planned lift in a calm week costs less than a rush job after a limb hits the car.

Lifts that go wrong

A few mistakes show up again and again.

• Taking off too much at once. The tree loses leaves it needs for food.
• Cutting flush against the trunk, or leaving a stub. Both slow healing and invite decay.
• Stripping the lower half and leaving a tuft at the top. That is topping in disguise, and topping tops the arborist brochure's list of damaging cuts.
• Painting the cuts. UC says dressings don't help.

A good lift looks boring afterward. The tree has the same shape, only with more room underneath. If it looks dramatic, something went too far.

Before the visit, measure what you need. How high should the clear space be over the walk? How wide over the drive? Pros can work from a number far better than from "higher."

Why El Dorado Hills tree trimming starts with a call

A lift looks simple, and often it is. But the right pro keeps the tree healthy for years. We find that person and set the time. You skip the phone tag.

Tree trimming in El Dorado Hills, step by step

1. Call or send the form. Say which tree and what's in the way.
2. We find a pro near El Dorado Hills and set a time.
3. The pro checks the height you need.
4. You get a price and an idea of how many visits it might take.
5. You say yes or no. No pressure.