Tree Service in Citrus Heights, CA

Tree service in Citrus Heights covers four kinds of work: tree removal, trimming and pruning, storm cleanup after winter wind, and stump grinding once a tree is down. Citrus Heights is about 3.4 miles from our base in Roseville. Most of what goes wrong with trees here comes from the weather: a long run of summer days above 90 degrees, then most of the year's rain between November and March.

Tree removal in Citrus Heights

A tree removal call in Citrus Heights is usually about a tree that died over a long, dry summer or one that began to lean after a wet winter. The method depends on what sits under the tree and how a crew can reach it.

Sectional takedown in a fenced backyard

With a sectional takedown the crew starts at the top and removes the tree in short pieces, since few yards have open ground long enough to drop it whole. In a fenced backyard, that is the normal way a large tree comes out. A climber or a bucket truck works down the trunk until only a short piece is left to fell.

Rigging and the chipper

Rigging keeps each cut piece off the roof: it hangs from a rope that runs through a block high in the tree, and a groundworker brakes it down with a friction device on the trunk. At the curb a chipper turns the limbs into wood chips, which can leave on the truck or stay as mulch.

Dead trees and storm damage

Summer is hard on trees in Citrus Heights: the average year brings 73 days with a high over 90 degrees and almost no summer rain. A tree already weakened by decay often gives out by fall. Dead wood dries brittle and will not hold a climbing line, so an aerial lift often does that cutting. Storm damage carries its own hazard: a split trunk or a hung limb holds tension that can let go at the first cut, so the crew takes it apart in small pieces.

What to ask a tree company before work starts

Ask a tree company to put two things in writing: how the tree will come down, and whether the stump and the cleanup are part of the job. Ask for proof of liability insurance too, because a dropped limb can break a neighbor's fence. For a native oak, ask whether anyone has checked the city's tree rules first.

Trimming and pruning Citrus Heights trees

A mature shade tree in Citrus Heights wants pruning every few years, sooner if it hangs over the roof. Good tree pruning takes out the limbs most likely to fail and leaves enough canopy to shade the yard through the summer heat. Done on a regular cycle, that tree care is the unglamorous part of tree service, and it can spare a tree from removal.

Crown thinning and deadwood

Crown thinning opens a dense canopy by taking a few limbs out of its interior, which lets wind through. Cuts end at a fork or the trunk with no stub left, because a stubbed or over-thinned tree replies with weak sprouts. Deadwood comes out on the same visit, starting with dead limbs over the house or the driveway, which are the first to snap in winter wind.

When to prune citrus trees in California

Prune citrus in California in late winter or early spring, after the last frost and once the main crop is picked. Timing matters in Citrus Heights because the average year has 18 days when the low drops below 32 degrees, and a fall pruning pushes out tender shoots that the first frost burns. After a cold snap, wait for spring growth before cutting so dead wood shows itself. Citrus needs only light work: suckers from below the graft, plus dead or crossing branches. Leave the outer canopy full, because bark suddenly exposed to July highs that average 93 degrees sunburns and can split.

Limbs over roofs and power lines

Branches resting on a roof scrape the shingles in every wind, and overhanging leaves fill the gutters before the November rains. A limb touching a power line or the service wire to the house is another matter: call the utility before anyone cuts near it, and never try it from a ladder.

Citrus Heights soil, roots and wind-thrown trees

The soil survey maps two USDA soil series around Citrus Heights: Fiddyment, well drained and in hydrologic group D, and Orangevale, well drained and in hydrologic group B. A group B soil keeps taking in water at a moderate rate, while a group D soil sheds it, and that difference shows in how deep roots go and how easily a tree tips over. The survey maps broad areas, so one yard can sit on either soil, or on fill left from construction.

Fiddyment soil and its duripan

The restrictive layer in Fiddyment soil is a duripan, a hardpan cemented with silica that roots and water barely get through. That is why a well-drained soil lands in group D: after a run of storms, water stops at the pan and sits there. Roots that meet the duripan turn sideways, so trees on this ground grow a wide, shallow root plate.

Orangevale soil and deeper roots

Orangevale soil takes rain in at a moderate rate and lets roots grow down as well as out, so trees on it anchor better. It also dries out fast in summer, and a lawn tree watered lightly and often keeps its roots shallow, up near the sprinklers.

Why trees blow over after winter storms

Trees blow over after winter storms because soaked soil grips roots far more weakly than dry ground. Over 80% of the year's rain here falls between November and March, so by midwinter the ground has taken several storms in a row. A shallow root plate sitting on a duripan offers very little resistance to a gust, and arborists call the result windthrow: the whole tree tips over and lifts its roots with it. A new lean after a storm, or soil cracked and raised on one side of the trunk, means the tree needs a look before the next one.

How far an oak tree should be from a house

Leave 20 to 30 feet or more between an oak tree and a house, and more for a valley oak, whose crown can spread as wide as the tree is tall. A closer oak is not a problem in itself; what matters is its health and whether its roots were cut when the foundation or a pool went in. Keep trenching outside the drip line and summer sprinklers off the root crown, since wet soil at a native oak's trunk invites oak root fungus.

When to call an arborist in Citrus Heights

The question for an arborist is whether a tree should stay, not how to take it down. A dead tree is ordinary tree service work, but a big oak with a thin crown or a split trunk deserves an assessment before anyone prices a cut. An arborist assessment starts with the tree's health and structure and ends with a plain answer: keep it with the right pruning, or take it down.

A written report, for the city or for a builder digging inside an oak's root zone, should be signed by an ISA-certified arborist; ask that of anyone you call, us included. Some outfits selling tree services do not write those reports, and an honest one says so before the visit.

A quote can wait if you see any of these; get an assessment first:

• Mushrooms or shelf fungus at the base of the trunk, a sign of decay inside the wood.
• An oak with a thin or browning crown in midsummer, when the trees around it are green.
• A deep crack or open cavity in the main trunk.
• A large limb dropped on a calm, hot afternoon, which arborists call summer branch drop.

Stump grinding after the tree comes down

Once the tree is down, a stump grinder's toothed wheel sweeps back and forth across the stump until it sits 6 to 12 inches below grade. That depth leaves room for sod or a shrub over the spot. The grindings, wood chips mixed with soil, either go back into the hole or leave on the truck.

Soil changes the backfill. On Fiddyment ground a chip-filled hole can stay wet after a run of storms, because water is slow to pass the duripan below, so topsoil is the better fill. On Orangevale soil a chip-filled hole dries quickly but sinks as the wood breaks down, so mound it a little above the lawn. If the old oak had oak root fungus, grind out its larger surface roots as well, since infected roots carry the fungus to the next planting.

Ask whether a tree service quote includes the stump, since grinding it on removal day spares the lawn a second set of tire tracks. Stumps are our main trade; backfill and root grinding are covered on the stump grinding in Citrus Heights page.

Nearby towns for tree service

Our tree care services reach the towns around Citrus Heights too: Antelope, Orangevale and Foothill Farms. Tree rules can change at a city or county line, so an oak that needs no permit on one street may need one a few blocks over. Check the rules for the exact address before an oak comes down.

Local details for Citrus Heights

• ZIP codes: 95610, 95611, 95621
• Distance: About 3.4 miles away in a straight line
• Main soils (USDA soil survey): Fiddyment (well drained, hydrologic group D); Orangevale (well drained, hydrologic group B)
• Nearby: Antelope, Orangevale, Foothill Farms

About Citrus Heights: Citrus Heights, CA on Wikipedia · Citrus Heights on Google Maps