Tree Services
- Land Clearing
- The removal of many trees or shrubs on your property to increase the size and
feel of your yard or to make room for an addition.
- Tree Removal
- The removal of one or more trees on your property. When you hire O'Brien Family
Tree Service to take down a tree in your yard, you can rest assured that it will be done
in a professional, safe, and timely manner. The job site will always be left just as
neatly as it was found.
- Stump Grinding
- The final step in the removal of your tree. We will efficiently grind your stump
well below grade. Once the stump has been ground out, the mulch that is produced is then
raked back into the hole to create a mound. The mound will settle back into the ground
over time, (this can take a few years). If you plan to plant another tree or shrub near
by, you will have to have these grindings removed. This service is not included in the
price of the stump grinding.
- Pruning
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- To promote colorful bark and stems. The most attractive quality of some trees
is their bark. Removing lower limbs, (elevating) helps show off the bark on trees, such
as the River Birch and Paperbark Maple. Elevating is also convenient when a trees lower
limbs are too low for you to walk or mow under them.
- To direct growth. Two limbs may grow so close that they rub against each other
causing a wound. Pruning can easily correct this condition and direct new growth where
you want it to go.
- To increase vigor. Regular pruning encourages the growth of new branches that
will resist insects and diseases better than old branches.
- To control size. Pruning every couple of years prevents a tree from becoming
too big. Minimal pruning by Thinning1 out suckers and
cleaning out dead wood is best because small, selective cuts gently guide the tree to
grow in the form and to the size you want without having to perform "surgery." - Never "Top and Shape"2 your tree.
- Styling
- The gradual pruning of snow ball bushes and spirals, done with snips or sheers.
For best results styling should be done annually.
- Hedging
- The gradual pruning of a hedge, done with hedge clippers. For best results
hedging should be done annually.
- Firewood
- A service we provide in the winter months. Please contact us for current
firewood prices.
- Policies
- 1Thinning
- When a tree is thinned of excess growth, its interior is opened up to light and
air, which helps it to grow better and resist foliar diseases related to poor air
condition, such as powdery mildew, anthachose, and leaf spot. Thinning does not destroy
the natural shape of the tree; topping does.
- 2Topping and Shaping
- Topping involves heading branches to random stubs or small lateral branches
rather than to a main branch or to the trunk of the tree. The problems topping causes are
numerous: decaying stubs, sunburn from lack of leaves, water sprouts instead of healthy
new growth, and stress from the loss of so much tissue. Heading cuts activate numerous
latent buds. This results in multiple weak shoots growing below each cut. Because these
shoots grow quickly, the tree soon needs pruning again. You can improve topped trees by
removing some of the water sprouts, but it will never be the same.