Tree Service in Chattanooga, TN

Tree Service in Chattanooga is shaped by the ground the city sits on. Chattanooga lies where the ridge-and-valley Appalachians meet the Cumberland Plateau, the Tennessee River cuts past Walden's Ridge on the west side of downtown, and Missionary Ridge splits the city a few miles east. A yard in Highland Park, a hillside lot below Lookout Mountain and a newer subdivision in East Brainerd can need three very different plans, and we treat them that way.

Slopes change how a tree comes down

On flat ground, a crew can often drop a tree in sections into open lawn. On a Chattanooga hillside, gravity works against you: logs want to roll toward the house below, the street or the neighbor's fence. Steep lots usually mean more rigging, lowering pieces on ropes rather than letting them fall, and planning a path out for the wood before the first cut. We look at grade, drainage and where a cut piece will go before we price a job, because that is where most of the labor is.

Historic districts and city trees

Chattanooga has four local historic districts: St. Elmo, Fort Wood, Ferger Place and Battery Place, and Lupton City has applied to become a fifth. Historic zoning covers exterior design and materials. The St. Elmo guidelines say landscaping is not reviewed by the Historic Zoning Commission, though they urge owners to keep historic trees. Trees on city property are another matter: the tree ordinance bars removing or disturbing a public tree, or working in its root zone, without a Tree Ordinance Permit from Urban Forestry. If a tree stands near the sidewalk or street, we confirm who owns it first. We would rather wait a week for an answer than take down a tree that was not yours to cut.

Rain, heat and storms

Chattanooga averages about 55 inches of precipitation a year under the 1991 to 2020 normals,. Saturated clay soils loosen root plates, and summer thunderstorms then push on full, leafed-out crowns. The city has also seen what tornadoes do to tree cover. On the night of April 12, 2020, an EF3 tornado crossed Harris Hills, East Brainerd, Drake Forest and Holly Hills, and trees were snapped or stripped bare in Drake Forest. Nine years earlier, the April 27, 2011 outbreak brought an EF4 through Apison on the county's eastern edge.

What we handle across the city

• Crown cleaning and deadwood removal on oaks, maples, tulip poplars and other mature hardwoods over roofs
• Clearance pruning so limbs stay off houses, gutters and driveways
• Removal of dead, split or leaning trees, including rigging on steep or tight lots
• Stump grinding after removals so you can replant or reseed
• Storm cleanup after wind events, starting with trees on structures
• Clearing vines such as kudzu off trees along wooded lot edges

Kudzu and the wooded edge

Many Chattanooga lots back up to woods, ravines or ridge slopes, and invasive vines climb those edges. Kudzu has infested Missionary Ridge badly enough that in 2007 the city tried grazing goats along part of it. Vines that blanket a tree add weight and shade out its leaves, which leaves the tree weaker in the next storm. Cutting vines at the base and pruning out the dead wood they leave behind is often the first step to saving an edge tree.

Power lines and brush

EPB, the city-run Electric Power Board, supplies most of Chattanooga's electricity. If a tree is touching a line, keep clear and contact EPB first. The pole-to-house service line is the owner's to keep clear, and EPB will lower it free so the tree can be pruned. For small jobs you do yourself, city brush pickup is by 311 request, aiming at eight business days, with pieces no longer than 8 feet, no thicker than 18 inches and piles no taller than 4 feet. Brush from contractor land clearing is not collected, so on our jobs we chip or haul it.

Getting an estimate

Call (423) 206-3918 or send the form with your street, the tree and what worries you about it. We visit, look at the tree and the ground around it, and give you a written quote before any work is scheduled. Get a free estimate