Tree trimming and pruning in Indian Hills, NV

Indian Hills sits at the north end of Carson Valley along US 395, just over the Carson City line, with the Carson Range rising to the west. Lots are smaller than in the rest of the valley, so a tree's branches seldom stay on one side of a fence.

At a glance

• About 10 miles and 15 minutes from our yard without traffic
• Median home built in 1995; about 24% built before 1980
• About a third of buildings are in the direct wildfire exposure zone
• USDA hardiness zone 7b, a full zone warmer than Minden

What does pruning on a subdivision lot involve?

Clearance first. A tree planted 10 feet from a house in 1995 is now touching it. Branches on a roof wear shingles and fill gutters. Branches over a driveway scrape vehicles, and low limbs block the walk.

The fix is crown raising and selective reduction: lifting the lowest limbs, and shortening the ones that reach the house back to a healthy side branch. Done properly the tree keeps its shape and the cuts close over. Each term is explained in crown thinning, raising and reduction.

• Limbs lifted off roofs, gutters and chimneys
• Clearance over driveways, walks and parked vehicles
• Dead, broken and rubbing branches removed
• Young trees trained so they need less work later

What if the branches hang over my neighbor's yard?

Talk to the neighbor before the crew arrives. We work on the tree for the owner who hires us, and we need permission to set foot or drop brush on the other side. Good pruning treats the tree as one crown, so cutting only one side back to the fence line rarely gives the best result. For the general picture, read HOA tree rules: what to check first. If your street has an association, ask it about front-yard trees.

The hillside behind the houses

About 33.5% of Indian Hills buildings are in the Forest Service's direct wildfire exposure zone, and risk to homes ranks higher than 96.9% of US communities. The 2004 Waterfall Fire, mapped at 8,765 acres, has its mapped center about 6 miles away.

On the lots that back onto open slope, pruning is partly fire work. Lower limbs come off so flames on the ground cannot climb, and anything overhanging the roof is cut back. UNR Extension's guide puts the first 5 feet around the house in its own ember-resistant zone. More on our Indian Hills defensible space page.

Weather the trees deal with

The Carson City weather station is under 3 miles away. It averages 9.34 inches of precipitation and 14.0 inches of snow a year (NOAA 1991-2020 normals). Indian Hills is in USDA hardiness zone 7b, with average extreme lows of 5 to 10 degrees.

Nine inches of rain will not carry a shade tree, so these are irrigated trees. A wet spring snow on a tree in full leaf is the event that breaks limbs here. Pruning out weak and over-extended branches before that happens is the point of maintenance.

Booking a short trip

The estimate is free and the arborist sees every tree before work is planned. Hazards can be pruned at any time; other pruning is best in the dormant season. After a storm, our 24-hour line is 775.232.8243, and the Indian Hills emergency page explains what to do first.