Tree Service in Johnston, IA

Tree Service in Johnston often means working on wooded ground. The Des Moines River forms the city's eastern border, part of Saylorville Reservoir lies inside city limits, and Beaver Creek runs south through town before bending east toward the river. Plenty of Johnston homes back up to timber, ravines or creek corridors, and that changes how a job is done: where the brush goes, how trees are lowered on a slope, and which trees are worth keeping as a buffer.

Johnston began in 1905 as Johnston Station, a stop on the Des Moines and Central Iowa Railway named for freight supervisor John F. Johnston, and it did not incorporate until 1969. Today it has about 24,064 residents (2020 Census) on 19.39 square miles of land, and the Census puts the median owner-occupied home value at $369,100, one of the higher figures in the metro.

Typical Johnston requests

• Edge trees along wooded backyards. Dead or leaning trees at the edge of timber that could reach a deck, fence or roof.
• Clearance pruning. Raising and thinning limbs so lawns get light and roofs stay clear.
• Ash removal. Ash was common both in yards and in the native woods; dead ash turns brittle fast and is risky to climb, so it is better handled before it gets that far.
• Stump grinding. For removals in finished lawns. On wooded edges, some owners prefer to leave stumps to rot in place.

Johnston weather on record

Johnston is home to the National Weather Service's Des Moines forecast office, which makes it one of the best-measured places in the state. During the December 19-20, 2012 blizzard, that office recorded 13.8 inches of wet snow before winds started snapping branches. On August 10, 2020, the derecho uprooted a tree in northwest Johnston. On June 30, 2018, 7.1 inches of rain fell by 10:43 p.m., and a car was washed away on Pioneer Parkway. And on May 24, 2024, an EF0 tornado started about 0.7 miles south-southwest of Johnston and tracked 3.2 miles.

Working on slopes and creek banks

Trees on a ravine edge or creek bank lean toward the light and often have one-sided roots. When one of those needs to come down, felling it whole down the slope can tear up the bank or hang it in the neighboring trees. We usually piece it down, sometimes rigging sections to a nearby tree, and leave the root mass in place when it is helping to hold the bank.

Getting started

About 89.9% of Johnston residents lived in the same house a year earlier, so many of our visits here are to owners planning a few years ahead. We walk the property with you, mark the trees, and give you a written estimate you can act on all at once or in stages. Call (515) 762-6977. Get a free estimate