Tree Removal in Des Moines, IA

Tree removal in Des Moines usually means dismantling a tree rather than felling it. On a typical city lot, a mature silver maple or cottonwood leans over a roof, a garage on the alley or a neighbor's yard, so the crown is taken apart from the top down. Limbs are cut in manageable lengths, heavy pieces are lowered on ropes through a friction device anchored to the trunk, and the trunk is brought down in rounds. Open acreage on the edge of Polk County sometimes allows a tree to be dropped in one piece, but that is the exception inside the city.

Signs a tree should come out

Some cases are obvious: a dead tree, a trunk split down a fork, a tree heaving the soil on one side after a storm. Others take a closer look. Mushrooms or conks at the base can point to root or butt rot. A cavity that covers a large share of the trunk's circumference weakens it more than people expect. Ash trees with half the crown gone to emerald ash borer rarely recover. Trees that lost their tops or major limbs in the 2020 derecho may have been decaying at the wound for years. We will tell you if a tree that worries you can be kept with pruning instead.

Brittle wood changes the method

Dead ash and storm-damaged maples get more brittle each season, and a dead top can snap when a climber puts weight on it. With those trees, the work plan may shift to an aerial lift working from beside the tree, or, for big trees with no safe access, a crane lifting sections out over the house. Those choices affect the price, which is why we explain the method on the quote rather than just a number.

Wires, streets and the parking strip

If a limb is touching or close to the primary lines on the poles, that part of the job belongs to MidAmerican Energy, and we will not cut it. MidAmerican asks for at least two business days' notice (888-427-5632) before tree work near its lines and can disconnect or de-energize the lower-voltage line near the tree for free. Trees in the strip between sidewalk and curb are on public right-of-way and belong to the city's public tree inventory, so removing one starts with a call to Public Works Forestry, not with us. Since 2009 the city has also had a Tree Removal and Mitigation ordinance, but it applies when removals are tied to grading permits, site plans or subdivision plats, not to an ordinary backyard removal.

What happens to the wood

You decide. Oak, ash and hackberry make good firewood, and we can leave rounds cut to length and stacked where you want them. Brush is chipped on site; the chips can be dumped for mulch or taken away. Stump grinding is quoted as its own line so you can choose it now or later.