Tree service in Edmonds, above the Sound
Edmonds sits on the water at the south end of our area, and almost every tree conversation here starts with the view. The ground rises steeply back from the Sound, so a good share of the lots above the bowl look west over the water through whatever is growing between them and it, and what is growing there is usually second growth conifer and big leaf maple that has had decades to close the gap. Down in the older streets around the bowl itself the ground flattens, the lots tighten, and the trees are mature planted stock standing close to houses. Salt air, a steady westerly and a bluff are the three things that make Edmonds its own job.
Most of what blocks an Edmonds view is not standing on the lot doing the looking. It is on the one below it, or on the strip of steep ground between the two, which makes a pruning question a conversation between neighbors before it is a job at all. What we can do is read the whole sight line, tell you honestly how much of the blocking is actually yours to deal with, and show you what opening your own side would give you. More often than people expect, a decent part of it is their own boundary planting.
The rest of it is the bluff. Ground that falls away steeply holds a root plate differently from flat ground, and a tree leaning downhill on a slope is not carrying the load the same tree would carry on the level. Add a steady westerly off the water and the trees that feel it are the ones on the edge with nothing in front of them. Where somebody is worried about one of those, the answer is a proper assessment rather than an opinion, and where the tree is sound we will say so and talk about reducing it instead of taking it out.
What we do in Edmonds
View trimming, removal, canopy pruning, wind sail reduction, hedge trimming, wood hauling, arborist reports and tree risk assessments across Edmonds.
Questions from Edmonds
Does a lot on the slope change what you can do?
It changes where the material can go more than it changes what the tree needs. On a bluff lot there is often no vehicle access below the house at all, so everything comes up rather than out, and that is real labor which belongs on the estimate honestly rather than being discovered on the day. It also changes the risk reading on any tree you are unsure about, because steeply falling ground supports a root plate differently. Both of those are why we quote at the property.
Is the wind off the water actually a problem?
For the trees standing at the front of it, sometimes. A conifer that grew up sheltered and then lost whatever stood in front of it takes a load it never developed the taper or the root spread for, and those are the ones that move. Thinning the crown so air passes through it, and shortening the longest limbs, reduces the force it has to carry. What that will not do is make a tree certain, and we would rather say so plainly than sell you a feeling.
Have a certified arborist look at it
Tell us what the trees are doing and we will come out, walk the property with you and write it up. The visit is free, it takes about 20 to 30 minutes, and you get an itemized estimate you can hold on to.
Call or text
(360) 842 7433Washington contractor licence WARRIBT777DF. Licensed, bonded and insured. Verify on LNI.wa.gov.ISA Certified Arborist PN 368801AEstimates are scheduled Monday to Friday, 9am to 4pm Pacific.