Tree Trimming & Pruning in Little Rock, AR

Good tree trimming and pruning in Little Rock is mostly about weight and structure. Our trees grow fast in the long, wet growing season, and every winter a few ice or wind events test the long limbs they put on. The goal of a pruning job is a tree that sheds less onto your roof and car, lets light into the yard and lives longer, not a tree that looks freshly shorn. We follow the ANSI A300 pruning standard used across the tree care industry: cuts made just outside the branch collar, no more live wood removed than the tree can handle, and no topping.

Why ice storms change the plan

The National Weather Service called the December 2000 ice storms in Arkansas the costliest natural disaster in the state's recorded history, and in Little Rock iced limbs came down onto houses across the city. The limbs that fail under ice are predictable: long horizontal limbs with all their foliage at the tips, codominant stems joined in a tight V, and branches with old wounds or decay. Shortening those limbs with reduction cuts and thinning the outer canopy takes a lot of the load off before the next storm.

Clearance over roofs, streets and lines

We raise canopies over driveways and lawns and pull limbs back from roofs and gutters. For trees beside public roads, Little Rock's code asks owners to keep 14 feet of clearance above the street and 8 feet above sidewalks, keep signs and signals visible, and it prohibits topping those trees. Around the service line from the pole to your house, Entergy Arkansas leaves trimming to the homeowner and can disconnect service for free so the work can be done safely. The primary lines on the poles are Entergy's to clear.

Crape myrtles, redbuds and other ornamentals

The University of Arkansas extension service calls crape myrtles probably the most incorrectly pruned plants grown in the state and uses the term crape murder for the stubbed-off look you see in so many yards. We thin crapes instead of chopping them, and we prune spring bloomers such as redbuds and dogwoods right after they flower, as extension guidance suggests. Pruning paint is not needed; the extension service notes it can slow the tree's own response to a cut.

Large shade trees

Willow oaks, water oaks, post oaks, pecans and sweetgums can reach well over 60 feet here. Extension guidance says large shade trees should not be pruned by home gardeners, and for good reason: the work is done from ropes or a lift, often over a house. We remove dead wood, broken hangers left from storms, and crossing limbs, and we reduce limbs that reach over the roof.

How often

Most mature shade trees do well with a pruning every three to five years, young trees more often while their structure is being set. A walk through the yard each spring and after big storms catches most problems early.