Tree Service in Monterey Park, CA

Monterey Park is the center of our service area, and tree service here means working with slopes, retaining walls and yards that were planted when most of the houses went up in the 1950s through the 1970s. The city's name comes from an old government map that labeled the area's oak-covered hills as the Monterey Hills, and those hills still decide how we reach a tree, where the debris goes and how carefully a heavy limb has to be lowered.

What the housing age tells us

The median home in Monterey Park was built in 1963, and more than a quarter of the city's roughly 22,000 housing units date to the 1950s. A shade tree planted with a 1950s house has had about seventy years to grow. Many of those trees now overhang roofs, push on block walls, lift driveways or crowd service drops. The usual problem is not one dramatic failure. It is a big, older tree that has slowly outgrown the space it was planted in.

That is why a visit usually starts with a walk around the whole lot. We look at clearance over the roof, deadwood in the crown, how the trunk meets the soil, and what is underneath a limb if it has to come down in pieces.

Six kinds of work we do in Monterey Park

• Tree removal for dead, leaning or badly placed trees, taken down in sections when the yard is tight
• Tree trimming for roof clearance, deadwood and weight reduction on long limbs
• Palm tree trimming to clear dead fronds and fruit stalks before they drop on a walkway or car
• Stump grinding so the spot can be replanted, paved or turned into lawn
• Emergency tree service after wind storms, when a limb is on a roof, fence or car
• Arborist consultations when you need an opinion on a tree's health before deciding what to do

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Parkway trees belong to the city

The tree between the sidewalk and the curb is usually a city tree, not yours. Monterey Park's Municipal Code section 9.63.030 says no one may cut down, injure or remove a city tree, and sections 9.63.040 and 9.63.050 limit what can be planted in a parkway or easement to species the Recreation and Parks Commission has designated. The city hires a contractor that trims street trees on a five-year grid cycle, and residents can ask the Parks Division about a problem tree or out-of-sequence trimming. If one of those trees is dropping limbs onto your property, call the city first. We work on the trees on your side of the property line.

Slopes, walls and access

Homes near the hills often have trees on a slope above or below the house. On those lots we plan the cut order around gravity: what falls, where it rolls, and whether a rope system is needed to swing a section away from a wall or roof. Older retaining walls do not like heavy rounds dropped next to them, so we lower wood rather than free-fall it when the wall sits close.

Wind is the main storm risk

Our big weather events are dry wind events, not ice or snow. During the late November and early December 2011 Santa Ana windstorm, the National Weather Service reported that about 350,000 San Gabriel Valley residents lost power, some for more than a week. Trees with heavy end weight, dead limbs or decay at the base are the ones that fail in that kind of wind. Thinning and deadwood removal before the windy season is the cheapest insurance most yards can get.

When you call (626) 594-4788, tell us roughly where the tree is and what it is doing. We will set a time to look at it and give you a written estimate that spells out what gets cut, what gets hauled and what is left on site.