Tree trimming and pruning in Smith Valley, NV

Smith Valley runs along the West Walker River in southern Lyon County and takes in Smith and Wellington. The census area is about 102 square miles for about 1,800 people. Battle Born Tree Service's yard is about 55 miles away, about 80 minutes without traffic.

At a glance

• About 90% of buildings in the direct wildfire exposure zone
• About 64% of homes built since 2000, about 17% before 1960
• USDA hardiness zone 6b, the coldest in our service area
• 6.24 inches of precipitation a year at the Smith 6 N station

Two ages of houses, two kinds of pruning

The housing numbers for Smith Valley have a gap in the middle. About 17% of homes were built before 1960 and about 64% since 2000, with a median year of 2004 (ACS 2020-2024; a small population, so approximate).

The older group stands among old trees: large crowns over a house, a barn or a corral, with decades of dead wood in them. That is crown cleaning and weight reduction, done by climbers or from the boom truck. The newer group has trees under 25 years old, where a few well-placed structural cuts now save large cuts later. The arborist will sort your trees into one list or the other.

How should a windbreak be pruned?

Lightly, and as a row. A windbreak works because it is dense from the ground up, so stripping lower limbs defeats its purpose on the windward side. What a row does need is the dead trees and broken tops taken out, limbs kept off fences and lines, and a check for trees leaning toward a building.

Near the house the answer changes. A row of evergreens that runs up to a wall is a path for fire, and the trees closest to the building are the ones to limb up, thin or remove. UNR Extension's Living With Fire guide treats the first 30 feet from the house as the lean, clean and green zone.

What do the fire numbers say?

The Forest Service places about 90% of Smith Valley buildings in the direct exposure zone and ranks risk to homes higher than 97.4% of US communities. Four fire perimeters of 300 acres or more have a mapped center within about 10 miles since 1980, including the TRE Fire of 2012 (7,073 acres), Upper Colony in 2018 (1,201 acres) and Burbank in 2011 (1,113 acres).

Pruning for fire means removing the lowest limbs so grass and brush fire stays on the ground, clearing dead needles and twigs out of evergreen crowns and cutting back anything over a roof. Ladder fuels and limbing up explains the idea. Brush and grass around the home site are a job for our mower: see lot clearing and brush mowing in Smith Valley.

Cold, dry and far from town

The Smith 6 N station, about 6 miles from the valley's center point at 5,000 feet, averages 6.24 inches of precipitation a year and a mean temperature of 51.1 degrees (NOAA 1991-2020 normals). The valley is in USDA hardiness zone 6b, with average extreme lows of minus 5 to 0.

Cold winters push the dormant pruning window for deciduous trees toward the end of winter. Conifers are pruned in early spring and summer. Dead and hazardous limbs can be taken at any time.

One estimate for the whole place

Ranch and acreage properties often have trees in several spots: the house, the lane, the shop, the stock pens. Walk the arborist to all of them at the free estimate. With an 80-minute drive each way, a single well-planned visit is better for everyone than several small ones.