Pine Tree Removal in Little Rock, AR

Pine tree removal is its own kind of job in Little Rock. Loblolly pine grows fast and straight here, and many subdivisions kept the pines already on the lot or planted them close to the house. A few decades later those trees can stand 70 feet or more, with most of their weight in a small crown at the top, right over the roof. A healthy pine can live with that for decades, but when one starts to die or a storm cracks it, it needs to come down in sections, often from the top of a very tall, very straight trunk.

Bark beetles

Arkansas forestry guidance describes three groups of pine bark beetles in the state. Ips engraver beetles usually attack one tree or a few, often a tree weakened by drought, lightning or damage, and their attack can show up as one or a few limbs fading. Southern pine beetle fades the whole crown from yellow to red. Black turpentine beetles work the lower eight feet of the trunk and leave reddish pitch tubes. Look for white or cream-colored globs of pitch on the bark and fine wood dust in bark crevices or at the base. The good news, according to federal forest health surveys, is that no southern pine beetle outbreaks have been reported west of the Mississippi River in more than twenty years, so most yard problems here are Ips and turpentine beetles on stressed trees.

What to do with infested pines

The same forestry guidance says infested pines that still hold needles, green, yellow or red, should be removed, and that cut logs should not be left overnight beside healthy pines, because beetles can leave the logs and attack the living trees. Pines that have already dropped their needles have usually been vacated by the beetles. That is why we haul beetle-hit pine wood off the property or move it well away from other pines rather than stacking it in the backyard.

Lightning, wind and brown needles

A tall pine is often the tallest thing on the block, and lightning strikes are a common start to beetle trouble. Pines also snap in tornadoes and straight-line winds, and the 2023 tornado left many pines in west Little Rock with broken tops. Not every brown pine is dying, though: federal surveys found brown spot needle blight widespread in Arkansas pines, and drought can brown needles too. A close look at the bark and the crown tells the difference.

How tall pines come down

With room to fall, a pine can be felled whole, but that is rare in a subdivision. More often a climber works up the trunk removing limbs, then takes the top out and lowers the trunk in sections, using ropes to swing each piece clear of the roof. Where a pine leans over the house or is too damaged to climb, a crane can lift sections over the house instead.