Any time a living part of a tree is cut open through pruning, or broken open through storm damage, the remaining area will likely decay. Any time a living part of the tree is cut open The remaining area will decay.  Reduction cuts vs removal cuts There are many different types of cuts and they should be made very carefully. If you do not know where to make a proper cut or just cut limbs for no apparent reason then the tree is going to suffer. 
     When tree limbs are cut at the proper spot on the tree limb then the tree will respond by compartmentilizing behind the wound and will help the tree heal and will stop the spread of decay at the site of the wound . The tree then builds walls behind the wounded area and stops the spread of decay. Sort of like when a dying branch falls off and you see the little round swelling behind the branch in what is called the branch bark ridge. This area closes off the wound to stop the spread of decay throughout the the tree. 
     This is why you do not want to ever top trees. Not only is this bad for  the tree but it cuts off that part of the tree that helps the tree heal. Even in tree's like Crape Myrtles This type of pruning practice is discouraged. The best possible way to cut or prune the tree properly is to hire a tree service like Beechnut tree service to properly prune your tree, so it will heal over like it should and stop the spread of decay. 
     If you can't make a proper cut on a tree limb or the limb has a cut from a long time ago then i would suggest calling Beechnut tree service out to your home to evaluate the limb or limbs that have been cut improperly to see if they can be repaired or simply need to be removed. Sometimes the wound was made through nature , possibly lightning or animals . In that case there is not much you can do. Or when the tree has bad structure, then a more drastic approach must be taken , but these are rare cases and should be taken as a last resort. In Closing i must tell you to please don't let anyone work on your tree's that is not a Certified Arborist . Once you start trimming or having a tree trimmed it must be done properly or the results can end up in disaster. Call us Beechnut tree Service for your free Estimate and make your trees the talk of the neighborhood.
     

  I get a lot of calls about people wanting to trim tree's that are over or close to someone else's property. I usually ask them " Why do you want to trim the tree over your neighbors property"? They usually respond by telling me that the neighbor contacted them about trimming it. After looking at the tree its trunk is on one side and the limbs are hanging over the line and going into the neighbors yard. I will start by telling them that the limbs that are hanging over into the neighbors yard are their responsibility to keep trimmed up not yours. They most often say " I don't care just trim it up so they will stop complaining about it to me. And there is nothing wrong with trimming your tree if it is over the neighbors property , but don't think that you have a legal responsibility to do so. The law requires every home owner to trim what ever is over their property line to trim it up themselves . And they must do it to benefit the tree and not cut it to hurt the tree. In other words they must trim the tree properly. A person or neighbor who is mad because you won't pay to have the limbs cut over his side of the property cannot and should not be allowed to then go up and just hack off a bunch of limbs that could injure or kill the tree. I once went out to a jobsite and the tree was right on the line between neighbors . The one neighbor who called me out to the sight wanted me to cut all the roots that were coming over onto his side . Well I don't have to tell you that if i were to cut all of those roots the tree would most likely fall over in a storm. After telling him that it would most likely kill the tree or it would fall over during a storm because of the roots being cut he threw up his arms and asked me to leave after saying a few more choice words to me. In closing just remember to not try argue with your neighbor about the tree Just call me Beechnut tree service, and i will politely explain to them that i am a Certified Arborist and can usually educate them on the law and tree's. And remember you are not obligated to trim anything over your neighbors property, That is the Law. Don't let them scare or threaten you into spending thousands of dollars when it is their responsibility. If you have any questions about this topic you an call or email me directly at Treescab@gmail.com . 

I've had some local tree services that I've worked for in the past try to get me to do things that I thought were unsafe or sometimes downright unethical this why I tell my clients or just people that I am giving estimates to that its always good to get a second opinion. Just like anything else because to often I think the Homeowner will make a rash decision about their trees or maybe they get pushed into something because the salesman for the tree service will push them into buying the most expensive thing which is usually in my business a removal. And to often I get called out and people tell me that another local tree service told them that the tree or tree's were dangerous and needed to come down right away when all the tree needed was a little dead wooding or to have the Mistletoe removed.

So the best thing you can do to protect yourself and your trees is to ask for a license and insurance for the business and also if they have any references that you can call. Those Three things right there will separate the men from the scammers so to speak. There are a lot of them out there and they are just looking for a chance to take advantage of homeowners and they usually leave a trail of destruction in their wake. And never give money to any company upfront if you do your just asking for trouble.

In short the moral of this story is don't trust any one that comes knocking on your door telling you that they are working down the road and noticed your trees need trimming. This is one of the biggest scams around and I've heard about it from literally hundreds of people. So if your planning to hire a local tree service please do it wisely. For your own sake.

​TREE SERVICES VS TREE HACKS !!!StandardThe other day one of my customers told me about these guys that were knocking on doors in his neighborhood offering to trim his Palm trees for almost half what I charge him. of course he said no thank you but it made me think of another client that said she also had a fellow come to her door and told her she needed to remove her oak tree because it had Mistletoe in a few spots. this seems to be a reoccurring theme that is going around.
If you want your trees to look nice and add value to your property then I suggest you have a professional Certified Arborist evaluate your trees, because once these guys start trimming on your trees not only can they hurt the tree, but they can cause tremendous damage to your home or even worse get injured on the job and sue you for damages. I have seen it time and time again where people take the advice of novice tree trimmers at best and get burned and there seems to be little recourse but to take them to court and that’s not going to help the tree out after it has been butchered.
So my advice to you is #1 Make sure to hire a professional preferably a Certified Arborist and check his or her affiliation to the International Society of Arboriculture.   #2 Never pay or give money in advance. #3 Even if you don’t decide to have the Arborist do the job , then at least have them come out and give you a consultation, aren’t your trees worth it !!!
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    Crape Myrtle ( Lagerstroemia indica) Is a small tree that prefers hot, sunny climates. It is well adapted to our climate here in Florida. Once well established,  these trees are extremely drought tolerant and have low fertilizer requirements. Crapes grace us with lovely blooms in the summer. And, if pruned or trained properly, the bare trunk and branches are very sculptural after losing leaves in early winter.

     The common practice of chopping off the tops of crape myrtles is a severe pruning practice that induces excess vegetative growth, promotes sprouting at the base of the plant, creates unnatural branch structure, and results in larger but much fewer flowers. Many prune this way because the plant is too large for the space where it is planted or they see their neighbor's trees pruned this way and feel that this must be the correct way to prune. There is also the misconception that this type of pruning is necessary to promote blooming. In actuality , light corrective pruning is all that is needed. 

       The best way to assure that the crape myrtle that you have planted will not grow to large for the space provided is to choose a cultivar for the mature size it will become.  There are dwarf, semi-dwarf, intermediate and tree forms of crape myrtles. 

        Flowers are produced on new growth and crape myrtles will bloom without any pruning. Pruning can produce blooms of larger size, but there will usually be fewer of them. Removing seedpods as they form during the summer can stimulate another flush of blooms before fall. Full sun is required for the best flowering. So, crape myrtles planted in the shade will not develop many blooms. 

        Pruning should be done in January or early February before the new growth starts.  To allow the plant to develop into the small graceful tree that it is destined to become, select one to several strong trunks originating from the ground and prune off any of the weaker remaining stems at ground level. Se the tree grows , remove lateral branches to one-third or half way up the plant. Also remove any branches in the developing canopy that are crossing or rubbing against another branch. This will develop an open canopy, which allows air circulation that will discourage fungal disease. Any broken or dead branches should also be removed. All cuts should be made either to the trunk or the a side branch that is facing out from the center of the tree. These are called thinning cuts that should not produce a heavy flush of dense growth in the canopy. In addition, the sprouts (suckers) that grow up from the base of the tree should be pulled out while they are still green a succulent. 

   These are a few of the practices of Certified arborists here at Beechnut Tree service that will help keep your crape myrtles looking Beautiful and healthy throughout the year. for these and other tips stay tuned for our next blog. Thanks for reading and please leave comments if you need help contact us today for a free estimate.

     The correct way to prune a palm is not to strip it up leaving only 2 or 3 fronds . This will cause the tree to put out new fronds to try to replace the fronds it has lost. causing extreme growth spurts, and eventually killing the palm. The palm gets its food from the fronds and if you are constantly removing fronds you cause the palm to constantly work to try to put on new fronds to replace the ones it has lost also causing the palm to decline and be more susceptible to disease and various insects that will prey on the weak palm. 
        if you were used to eating a good meal three times a day, then you were deprived of your meals and were only given a meal one time a day. You would become weak and would be susceptible to all kinds of diseases, well that is what happens when you strip a palm of almost all of the food producing fronds or trim a palm by what is called as Hurricane cutting. This is a bad pruning practice that should be avoided at all costs. 
           If you are not sure on how to trim palms contact Beechnut tree for a free evaluation and a free estimate and we will send a Certified Arborist out to your home and we can get your palms looking and feeling their best. Again don't be fooled by thinking that if you take more fronds off you won't have to trim as much. it is just the opposite. You will end up trimming it up just as often due to rapid growth of the tree and will reduce its health and cause it to be more susceptible to pests and diseases. if you don't believe us check out the University of Florida standards for palm pruning . Again please call Beechnut tree service before hiring a door knocker just wanting to make a few dollars . and don't just go with the tree company that will trim your palms for the cheapest price. You may end up paying more in the long run. 

      In this blog post Beechnut Tree service will try and help you through some of the questions you might have concerning Tree's and the Law. Sometimes I come across Clients that have some concerns about what their responsibility is concerning their tree's and encroachments on other peoples property. After taking numerous classes on this topic I will tell you that first I am not a lawyer nor have I represented any clients in any civil suits. So I can only tell you what I was taught, having said that I believe I have a pretty good understanding about what is legal and what is not. Now before we begin there might be points in here that you don't agree with and that's fine. you may still want to consult a attorney in these matters. 
          Case #1  I have a tree that is close to my neighbors fence lets say, My neighbor is not a friendly fellow and as a matter of fact he does not like me and he does not like my tree's , especially the one that is close to his fence. He yells at me that I had better trim the branches that are coming over onto his side of the fence, because if one of those branches breaks off and hits his house or fence or shed that he is going to sue me.  Now if your a little old lady and someone says this to you or anyone this can really upset you and now your thinking of hiring a tree person to go over onto his property and trim the tree away from his property that could cost you thousands of dollars just to satisfy him and avoid litigation. Well I'm here to tell you that you do not have any responsibilities for the tree branches that are hanging over his side of the fence. You tell him that those branches are his responsibility and who ever he hires better be a Certified arborist and make sure that the cuts made to your tree better be proper cuts and if their not you will be suing him for destroying your tree.
           I often run into these cases where the neighbor is trying to intimidate my client into paying for their tree work. Don't let this happen to you. Tell them to do it themselves and if they have any questions to call Beechnut tree service and we will set them straight. 
         Case #2   I have a tree in my yard that i think is to big . Well the local tree hacks said that they will cut it down to 15 ft to make it safe. Well you think your doing the right thing for the tree by topping it down to about 1/3 its size , but what you are doing is destroying the tree's structure and causing lots of problems for that tree down the road, not to mention that it is illegal to top tree's in Pasco county and many other counties. This is a bad pruning practice that has been around for a long time and should be avoided at all costs. You can call a Certified arborist like the ones at Beechnut tree and they will tell you the correct way to reduce the canopy to make it safer instead of the horrible pruning practice of topping. 

One of the best ways of getting into trouble along with topping tree's is removing tree's without a permit. Permits to remove a tree or tree's are very inexpensive and well worth the time of getting one,  if not only to protect you against nosy neighbors but also protects you against homeowner associations that try to force you to keep a nuisance tree. Beechnut tree service will be able to tell you weather you need a permit or not, because some specie of tree is exempt from permit because let say the tree is an invasive specie.  Also permitting helps keep somewhat of an Urban canopy in our communities and not just clear cutting large parcels of land and requiring developers to replace every tree cut , with a planted new tree. 
        In closing i would just like to say that I have run into dozens of these cases and it never ends well. The people involved suffer , the tree itself suffers, its not a good situation but can fortunately be avoided by calling Beechnut Tree or even any Certified arborists in the area. Most of the time they will come out and survey the situation and can fix the problem by educating people on the correct approach to most of the problems maybe 90%. If you like these blog posts i would appreciate a comment or two and tell me what interests you about tree's and feel free to ask questions . I don't have the answer to all  of them, but i'll do my best.   

Thank you for reading . 

        It is that time of the year again. Time to look up to the tree's in your yard and see if there is anything you can do to help your tree's be ready for this years hurricane season. There are things to look for, for instance: broken branches, twisted or browning branches, dead or dying branches that can be removed before the season begins. Another thing you can do is to get limbs elevated over objects such as roofs, driveways , and other obstacles. This will help take some of the weight off of the low hanging limbs and make them more structurally sound. and speaking of structure, A large part of tree failures whether in a hurricane or just strong thunder storms Is bad structure. Structure is very important to a tree.
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This is a tree that has very bad structure. I was called out to this lady's home last week ,where this Laurel oak had split taking down the power lines and power pole . Luckily for her the limb was headed toward the street and not her home . This is what we in the tree industry call Included bark. This is where a bunch of limbs pop out of the same spot on the tree and as the tree grows the limbs get bigger and bigger and start rubbing up against each other. As there doing that the pressure and decay that starts building between them. and maybe some rain thrown in there and all of a sudden one side splits without warning . That is what happened here. And that is why it is a good idea to have a Certified arborist come and inspect the tree's if you have any worries about your tree's. 
      Another thing to look at is branches that either are close to structures or overhead wires. These can cause problems for homeowners if they start getting tossed around and getting pushed into buildings . when branches get wet they often droop down a lot more than when their dry.Therefore limbs should be raised to a proper distance away from buildings. Deadwood is another hazardous part of the tree if it is blown by heavy winds. A small branch 40 ft up in the air falling that distance can really do damage to vehicles or other items when blown down. 
       Beechnut tree service will come to your home and inspect your tree's and give you expert advice on how to care for your tree's and how to avoid thousands of dollars in repair bills by doing some proper maintenance on your tree's. Think of it you maintain your home , your car, and your property . Shouldn't you maintain the tree's that give your yard beauty and shelter from the elements. 
          Right now for this hurricane season Beechnut tree is offering their Hazardous tree inspection usually an 300 dollar deal absolutely free for the months of July and August 2019 Absolutely free. Don't miss out on this tremendous value. 
              In closing i would just like to say That you can never know what a Hurricane will bring and you can never be prepared for the unexpected. You can however do some simple things that will help your trees and your property. Like lifting the tree's above power lines and other obstacles. Plus removing deadwood is always a good idea. pruning branches to take some of the weight off also helps . It never hurts to get an estimate and evaluation just to be sure. Thanks for reading this blog and stay tuned for more good Tree stuff.

      Beechnut Tree gets a lot of calls from people who want to know more about the tree's in their yard and how to take care of them properly.  Arboriculture is study of tree's. It is a road map so to speak of the way tree's behave and how they live and thrive in their environments. A lot of times I will go out to someone's home thinking I was going to be giving a quote on a removal and I end up telling them that there is nothing wrong with their tree, but because someone driving around trying to drum up business told them that their tree was dying and that they need to remove it they get scared but thankfully get a second opinion from a Certified arborist like myself. I cannot tell you how many times this has happened to me.
       Another issue that seems to come  up a lot is the pruning of palm tree's ? I have been trimming palms now for approximately 24 yrs and have learned a lot about them in that time and I can or Beechnut can tell you how to take care of them the proper way not the way that is being implemented by other tree cutting services like Hurricane cutting them. This is one of the worst things you can do to a palm , besides cutting them down. You must avoid this palm trimming technique at all costs. Not only does it starve the tree of valuable nutrients but it forces the palm to have to constantly keep producing new fronds to survive.  
       A lot of what we do at Beechnut Tree service is not only removing tree's but , is mostly pruning or trimming of tree's to improve structure , remove dead or dying branches, pruning for obstacles such as driveways , homes , etc. and removal of hazardous branches that would likely be a problem for the tree or the homeowner in the future. Sometimes because of my Arborist certification I am called out to homes to inspect tree's for diseases or fungus's that have attacked a tree. At Beechnut tree we will not sell you the most expensive action or operation which is usually removing the tree unless it is absolutely the only option available. And we will not tell you that you need pruning or topping which by the way is illegal in Pasco County or we will not tell you that you need to get on a fertilization plan unless we have diagnosed that the tree has a nutrient deficiency and needs it .
         Beechnut tree will always give you the best information about your tree's and will always do our best to give you the absolutely best prices that is possible. Of course having a Certified arborist come out to you home and give you a professional opinion about your tree's absolutely free is just one of the benefits to Beechnuts service. There aren't to many company's that will do that for free that i know of. And most of the time we can actually save the homeowner money because of the knowledge we have in the industry we can offer opinions  that can save money , Or give you a second opinion on some work that another tree service has said that needed to be done when a much simpler and less expensive solution is available . 
            At the same time Beechnut Tree service is a fully licensed and insured company with equipment and labor cost, not to mention being able to give free estimates and free advice. So it is possible that our cost would be hire than the fellow that knocks on your door asking to trim your tree's. His overhead is almost zero. And i don't think you want your tree's to be trimmed by some hack? I've heard and seen the horror stories about homeowners that tried to save a few bucks and hire the cheapest estimate and believe me that your tree's deserve better then that. Don't make that mistake You wouldn't want the guy next door doing open heart surgery on you, don't let him kill your trees either. They won't give you estimates in writing either , they tell you a price verbally and you never see them again. They give honest , caring , tree professionals a bad name because they quote prices and never follow threw with it. 
           When you hire Beechnut tree service you are hiring a true professional and a Certified Arborist which is the same as say hiring a master plumber or electrician . Now you can either hire a pro or you can hire someone that does not care about your tree's . Half of the guys giving estimates don't even know what species of tree their working on. They don't have insurance or a business license. You don't want them working on your tree's trust me. if you doubt what i'm saying just look Beechnut tree service up on google or yelp or even Angie's list for that matter and read some of our reviews from former clients . We are a 5 star rated company and have worked tirelessly to earn our shining reputation . 
          Beechnut tree is now offering a special discount to all the veterans on this Memorial day and for the week following . and to all the veterans thank you for your service to our great country. We also give senior discounts for 65 and older. We are also offering free stump removal with every tree removed . So not only are you getting the benefit of having a Certified arborist coming out to your home, but with all the other benefits to go along with it. which include a free Hazard tree evaluation with every estimate which include disease and disorder evaluation also. So hiring Beechnut tree service can actually save you thousands of dollars in false or phony tree quotes. In Closing we would like to remind you to always get a professional tree person to take care of your tree's and don't be fooled by these door knockers and phonies that claim to be arborists when they really aren't. Thanks for reading ........