Tree trimming and pruning in Carson City, NV

Carson City is two towns as far as trees go. Nearly half of its homes went up before 1980 and have trees to match, while about one in six was built in 2000 or later and has trees still finding their shape. The same crew prunes both, but not the same way.

At a glance

• Yard at 6301 US Highway 50 East, about 4.5 miles from the town center
• About 49% of Carson City homes were built before 1980
• Voted First Place, Best Tree Service, Nevada Appeal Best of Carson City, 2018 through 2025
• Right-of-way trees: check with Carson City Public Works first

Which kind of pruning does a Carson City tree need?

It depends mostly on when the house was built. The U.S. Census Bureau's American Community Survey puts the median Carson City home at 1981, with about 49% of homes older than 1980 and about 17% built since 2000.

The terms are explained in crown thinning, raising and reduction. What your own tree needs is decided on site, at the free estimate.

When should trees be pruned here?

Dead or hazardous branches can come out in any month. For everything else we prune when the tree is dormant: late winter for most deciduous trees, early spring and summer for most conifers.

Carson City has a real winter to work with. The Carson City weather station averages a winter low of about 25 degrees and about 14 inches of snowfall a year (NOAA 1991 to 2020 normals). Leaves are off, the branch structure is easy to read, and the lawn is firm under the equipment. The month-by-month detail is in best time to prune trees in Northern Nevada.

Why prune at all in a town this dry?

Because dry-country trees make dead wood. The same station records about 9.3 inches of precipitation in a normal year, so nearly every shade tree in town lives on irrigation. When water falls short, a tree lets branches go, and those branches stay up there until wind or wet snow brings them down.

Regular pruning takes them out on your schedule instead of the weather's. Our own advice has not changed since the company opened in October 2013: maintenance pruning is what keeps trees and shrubs thriving.

What does being the local crew change?

Mostly logistics. The boom truck, the chipper and the chip truck are kept at the yard on the east side of town, so a second visit to finish a detail or look at one more tree is a short drive. Brush is chipped and hauled before the crew leaves.

Carson City readers have voted us First Place, Best Tree Service, in the Nevada Appeal Best of Carson City poll every year from 2018 through 2025.

Do you trim trees along the street?

We can, once you know whose tree it is. For a tree between the sidewalk and the curb, or anywhere else in the right-of-way, check with Carson City Public Works before any work is booked.