Most homeowners call us because a tree looks scary: it leans, it's huge, or it hangs over the house. Some of those trees need to go. Plenty of them just need a trim, and a few need nothing at all. Here's how we tell the difference on a walk around your yard.
Start at the base. Mushrooms or shelf fungus on the trunk or roots, soil lifting on one side, and a hollow sound when you knock on the trunk all point to rot or root failure. Those are removal conversations, regardless of how green the top looks.
Look at the lean. A tree that has leaned the same way for twenty years and has grown a thick, balanced crown around that lean is usually fine. A lean that's new, with cracked soil on the uphill side, is not. The difference is whether the ground moved.
Check the crown. Dead branches in the top, a thinning canopy on one side, or big limbs that cross and rub are trimming problems, not removal problems. Clearing dead wood and thinning a heavy crown lets wind pass through instead of pushing the whole tree over.
Hackberries, Bradford pears, and water oaks deserve a harder look; they're common in Memphis and they fail more often than most. Big limbs over the house, the driveway, or the neighbor's fence get trimmed back even on a healthy tree.
Our estimate is free and it comes with an honest recommendation. If the tree can stay, we'll say so, because a good trim is cheaper than a removal and we'd rather you call us again for the next one.