Tree trimming and pruning in Spanish Springs, NV

Almost every tree in Spanish Springs was planted by the person who lives there or the builder before them. That makes it one of the few places where a whole community's trees can still be steered.

At a glance

• About 95% single-family detached homes, about 92% owner-occupied
• Median home built in 2002
• Wildfire risk to homes higher than 98.6% of US communities
• Named in our Google listing's service area

What should an owner ask for on a tree under 25 years old?

Ask for a structural prune, and ask the arborist to explain each cut. You own this tree for the long run, and a few minutes of explanation will help you see what to watch as it grows. A good plan for a young tree covers four things.

1. Pick the leader. One central stem is kept dominant; competing stems are shortened.
2. Set the lowest permanent branch. Limbs below the height you need over the lawn, walk or driveway are removed while small.
3. Space the main limbs. Crowded branches at one height are thinned so each has room.
4. Leave the rest. Small interior branches feed the trunk and are kept. A young tree should never look stripped.

One of our older testimonials puts the idea well. Sunnee S wrote that Mike "took the time to explain what would be best for the trees and how to trim them so that they would grow even stronger."

How close should branches be to the house?

Not touching, and not over the roof if it can be helped. In Spanish Springs this is a fire question as much as a maintenance one. The USDA Forest Service rates the community's wildfire risk to homes higher than 98.6% of US communities. It places about 32% of buildings in the direct exposure zone and the remaining 68% in the indirect zone, where embers and neighboring structures are the threat. None are rated minimal.

The University of Nevada, Reno Extension's Living With Fire guide sets the first 5 feet around a house as an ember-resistant zone and the next 25 as lean, clean and green. Pruning supports both: limbs lifted off the roof, dead wood removed, lower branches raised above the plants beneath. Defensible space in Spanish Springs covers the rest of the lot.

What do the local weather numbers mean for trees?

Spanish Springs has its own NOAA station, less than a mile from the center of the community. Its 1991 to 2020 normals show 9.18 inches of precipitation a year and a mean temperature of 52.0 degrees. Nine inches does not carry a shade tree. Yard trees here live on drip irrigation, and one that has outgrown its emitters shows it first as dieback in the top.

When we prune, dead tips are removed and the pattern is reported to you. Drought stress and dieback explains how to tell a water problem from something else.

Is one visit enough?

For a single tree, often. For a yard of young trees, think of pruning as a short series. Only part of a crown should come off at one time, so structure is built over a few visits some years apart. The estimate sets out what is worth doing now and what can wait.

Spanish Springs is about 43 miles from our Carson City yard, about 53 minutes without traffic. List every tree you want looked at when you call, so one visit covers them.