Tree service in Galena and along the Mt. Rose Highway (ZIP 89511)

ZIP 89511 starts on the valley floor in south Reno and climbs toward Mt. Rose. The center point we use sits at about 5,634 feet, more than 1,100 feet above downtown Reno.

How is tree work different at 5,600 feet?

It is colder and the season is shorter. The 2023 USDA map rates 89511 as hardiness zone 6b, with average extreme winter lows of 5 below zero to zero. Central Reno is 7b. A full zone of difference changes which trees grow well and how long the working season is.

It is also wetter the higher you go. There is no long-term weather station inside the ZIP near its center, so we do not quote a local figure. As a reference for the gradient: Reno-Tahoe International Airport at 4,410 feet averages 7.35 inches of precipitation a year, and the Mt. Rose Ski Area SNOTEL site at 8,801 feet averages 54.54 inches (NOAA 1991-2020 normals). Homes along the highway sit between those two.

Snow load is the practical result. Heavy snow bends and breaks conifer limbs and splits multi-stemmed trees. Protecting trees from plow and snow-load damage explains what helps.

Which fires have been mapped near Galena?

Twenty-seven perimeters of 300 acres or more have a center point within about 10 miles of this ZIP since 1980. The closest large ones are the Arrowcreek Fire of 2000, mapped at 2,788 acres and centered about 3 miles from the ZIP's center, the Washoe Drive Fire of 2011 at 3,178 acres, and the Davis Fire of 2024 at 5,824 acres, both centered a little over 4 miles away. The Martis Fire of 2001, mapped at 14,429 acres, lies near the edge of the circle.

No Forest Service record exists for a ZIP. Washoe County's risk to homes ranks above 97.2% of US counties, and about 16% of the county's buildings are in the direct exposure zone. Homes set among trees and brush on this corridor are the kind that zone describes.

UNR Extension's Living With Fire guide divides the ground into three zones: 0 to 5 feet from the house kept ember-resistant, 5 to 30 feet lean, clean and green, and 30 to 100 feet with reduced fuel. On a wooded lot that means removing some trees, limbing up the rest and breaking up continuous brush. Details are on defensible space in Galena and Mt. Rose Highway.

How old are the homes in ZIP 89511?

The median home dates from 1997. About 17% were built before 1980 and about 42% since 2000 (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2020-2024). About two-thirds are single-family detached, and about 69% are owner-occupied.

On the upper highway, houses stand in native pine forest, so the trees are far older than the homes. Lower down, on open ground, the trees were planted with the subdivision. The first kind of lot needs removal and thinning of mature conifers. The second needs pruning to build good structure while the trees are young.

Acreage, brush and access

The ZIP covers about 132 square miles, and plenty of it is large lots. Where there is more ground than one person can clear by hand, we bring the track loader with a brush mower or masticating head. See lot clearing and brush mowing and our comparison of mastication, brush mowing and hand clearing.

In winter the same corridor needs plows. We offer snow removal on the Mt. Rose Highway side for homes and commercial sites.