Tree trimming and pruning in Stagecoach, NV

Stagecoach is open country between Dayton and Silver Springs, at about 4,345 feet. A tree in Stagecoach is there because someone planted it for shade or to break the wind, and it stands alone in the weather with nothing around it to share the load.

At a glance

• 6.22 inches of precipitation a year at the nearest gauge
• About 49% of homes are manufactured homes
• Median home built in 1993; about 27% before 1980
• About 23 miles from our Carson City yard on US 50

Why do Stagecoach trees have so many dead branches?

Water. The volunteer gauge listed as Silver Springs 6.6 SSW, about 8 miles from the center of Stagecoach, averages 6.22 inches of precipitation a year (NOAA 1991-2020 normals). The Carson City station averages 9.34. A shade tree cannot live on either figure, so every one here is on irrigation.

When a pump fails, a line breaks or a dry summer stretches the budget, the tree gives up branches to save the rest. The dead wood stays in the crown until wind takes it out. Dead wooding removes it under control, at any time of year, and gives the arborist a look at how far the dieback goes. A tree with a dead top and a live lower crown can often be kept. One that is dead on most sides is a removal.

What is different about pruning next to a manufactured home?

About 49% of Stagecoach homes are manufactured homes and about 47% are site-built houses (ACS 2020-2024, a small sample, so approximate). A shade tree planted close on the south or west side does its job well, and then grows over the roof.

A limb coming down on a manufactured home's roof or awning can do more harm than the same limb would on a framed roof. Clearance pruning keeps live branches a safe distance above the roofline and takes out anything dead overhead. We also lift limbs off carports and sheds, and away from the service line to the house.

Does wind change how a tree should be pruned?

Yes, in both directions. A lone tree on an open lot takes the full wind, and a crown packed with dead and crossing branches catches more of it. Cleaning that out helps. Stripping the inside of every limb and leaving foliage only at the tips does the opposite: it puts all the weight at the end of a long lever. Arborists call that lion-tailing, and we do not do it.

Where a lot has a row of trees planted against the wind, we look at the row as a unit. Dead trees in the row come out, and the rest are pruned so they shelter each other.

Is fire a pruning issue here?

For about four homes in ten. The Forest Service puts about 40% of Stagecoach buildings in the direct wildfire exposure zone, with risk to homes higher than about 93% of US communities. The 1985 Gooseberry Fire, mapped at 29,296 acres, is the largest perimeter centered within about 10 miles. Lifting low limbs off dry grass and brush is part of our defensible space work in Stagecoach.

Getting started

Call 775.232.8243 or send the form for a free estimate. The arborist will look at every tree you ask about and tell you plainly which need pruning, which need water and which are past saving.