Tree trimming and pruning in Reno, Sparks and Carson City

Good pruning is a set of deliberate cuts, each with a reason: take out dead wood, lift branches off a roof, reduce weight on a long limb, shape a young tree so it grows up strong. We cannot stress enough how much regular pruning does to keep trees and shrubs thriving.

At a glance

• Two ISA Certified Arborists on staff
• Pruning, trimming and shaping for trees and shrubs
• 75-foot boom truck and climbers for tall crowns
• Brush chipped and hauled, yard left clean
• Residential, commercial and HOA properties
• Free estimate with a plan for each tree

When is the best time to prune trees?

If your tree or shrub has dead branches or is a safety hazard, pruning is recommended at any time to remove the hazard. If there are no dead branches and no hazard, prune when the tree is dormant.

Fruit trees, elms and pines each have their own timing details. See best time to prune trees in Northern Nevada.

What kinds of pruning do we do?

We do crown cleaning, thinning, raising and reduction, shaping, structural pruning and clearance pruning. The list below says what each one does.

• Crown cleaning: dead, dying, broken and crossing branches come out. See dead wooding.
• Crown thinning: selected branches are removed to let wind and light through.
• Crown raising: low limbs are lifted over a driveway, a walkway or a roof.
• Crown reduction: long or heavy limbs are shortened back to a side branch.
• Shaping: trees and shrubs trimmed for form and appearance.
• Structural pruning: young trees trained so they need less work later.
• Clearance pruning: branches moved back from buildings and lines. See utility and structure clearance.

Each term is explained in crown thinning, raising and reduction.

Why does the arborist plan the cuts?

A tree cannot regrow a limb that was cut in the wrong place. The industry's pruning standard, ANSI A300, sets out how cuts should be made and does not accept topping as pruning. Our arborists follow that thinking: remove what needs to go, keep the tree's natural form, and leave it stronger.

Customers notice the difference. Sunnee S wrote on our old site: "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." Why topping causes trouble is covered in why topping a tree is not pruning.

Why does pruning matter in the high desert?

The valley floors here get 4 to 10 inches of precipitation a year. NOAA's 1991 to 2020 climate normals show 9.34 inches at the Carson City station and 7.35 at Reno-Tahoe International Airport. Yard trees depend on irrigation, and a tree short on water sheds branches. That dead wood is what wind and wet snow bring down.

Regular pruning removes it before a storm does. On the fire side of town it also lifts the crown off the ground and away from the house, which is part of defensible space.

Is pruning different at Lake Tahoe?

Yes. In the Tahoe Basin, the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency requires a permit to remove branches from the upper two-thirds of a tree's height. The exceptions are branches within 10 feet of a chimney outlet, building or deck, branches rubbing or pulling on utility lines inside your property, and dead branches. The agency decides, and we can talk through what your trees need when we visit.