AFFORDABLE TREE REMOVAL SERVICE IN Christiansburg, VA

What Are the Most Common Tree Issues in Christiansburg?

The rich and lush environment in the Great Appalachian Valley supports a diverse assortment of plant and animal life, which also means pests and diseases that prey on those plants can be common in the area. While the mountain forest ecosystems of the Appalachians present many challenges, there are several that stand out as especially common, but often serious, issues around Christianburg. These are:

• Chestnut blight
• White pine blister rust
• Thousand cankers disease
• Sudden oak death
• Beetles and borers

Does the City of Christiansburg Provide Any Assistance in Tree Removal Problems?

Christianburg doesn’t directly provide any assistance with tree removal problems for residents, but the monthly brush collection certainly can help with disposing of the waste left over after tree removal. This free service the city provides is different from seasonal yard waste pickup for leaves. During the monthly brush collection, the city will take entire piles of branches and logs, as long as they can be fed into a wood chipper. This can make tree trimming and removal much more affordable for residents.

Who Is Responsible for Fallen Tree Removal in Christiansburg?

Under Virginia law, trees are considered to be part of the property on which they originally grew. The owner of that property is typically responsible for maintenance of the tree and, when necessary, its removal. 

If a tree falls across property lines and damages structures or others’ property, you’re typically not responsible for such damage and it’s considered a no-fault accident. If you had adequate warning from the city or a neighbor, however, that the tree needed to be cut down and it was at risk of falling, then you could be viewed as negligent and charged for damage that your tree caused. To prevent costly damage and liability, it is extremely important to call us to remove trees as soon as you know they are in danger of falling.

If you’re a homeowner?

If you’re a homeowner in Christiansburg, you’ll be responsible for the removal of any trees that fall on your property. If it falls onto the public right-of-way or across property lines, you’ll want to take care of it quickly, as it may potentially cause inconveniences or harm to others. Allowing fallen trees to sit on your property for too long can bring pests and disease. Aside from that, it may be an annoying eyesore and a safety hazard.

If you’re a renter?

If you’re a tenant in Christiansburg, tree removal probably does not fall into your responsibilities. Unless it’s clearly stated in your lease that tree maintenance and removal are part of the requirements of you living there, a tenant’s responsibility is to normally just alert your landlord. Communicate with your landlord about fallen trees right away. They may want you to arrange for the removal of the tree and compensate you accordingly, or they may want to handle the issue themselves.

If you’re a landlord?

If you own a rental property in Christiansburg, chances are, the responsibility of removing fallen trees from that property still falls on you. Though tenants are commonly responsible for lawn care, trees are usually considered a more permanent aspect of the property and are left under the control of the current property owners.

Surrendering control of your trees to your tenants would be giving up control over a vital factor that contributes to the value of your investment. Being responsible for your trees may sometimes result in the extra effort of having to hire arborists to maintain or remove them, but it’s still more advantageous for you to be able to maintain the value of your investment as best you can.

If you’re a neighbor?

If one of your neighbors here in Christianburg has a tree that’s fallen onto your property, it’s still their responsibility to remove it. Communicate with the neighbor and see what their plan is to deal with the issue. If you have to remove the tree yourself, then they’ll owe you compensation as it was their tree to remove.

Even if their tree didn’t fall on your property, if your neighbor fails to remove a tree that’s becoming a nuisance to you, they may still have to remove it, under the Christiansburg city code. Fallen trees in your neighbor’s yard that linger for too long can bring pests to your yard and negatively impact the appeal of your property. If your neighbor won’t remove a tree that you feel needs to be removed, you might want to reach out to Christiansburg code enforcement and see if there’s a way you can resolve the issue.

How Does the Soil Affect Trees in Christiansburg?

The soil here is great for growing trees, which is why so much of the New River Valley Floor is so densely forested. Our soils are nutritious and deep, with bedrock deeper than 10 feet almost everywhere below the slopes. The soil here is mostly formed from clays, silt, and sand caused by the erosion of shale and limestone from the mountains, though our river has washed considerable amounts of nutrient-rich alluvial soils into the course of its floodplain over the years. Plants thrive in these alluvial soils, but some trees may not get enough structural stability from them without proper care, since they can lack many of the clays that keep soil from eroding over years.

Does Weather Affect Tree Health in Christiansburg?

Though we have our occasional spats of storms or drought from time to time, the weather in our little mountain valley is ideal for growing strong and healthy trees. Relatively steady precipitation throughout the year and temperatures that don’t get too extreme either at the height of summer or winter provide an ideal environment for trees.

What if Dead Trees Are Near Power Lines in Christiansburg?

Trees are the number one cause of power outages nationwide, often because they are allowed to grow too close to power lines. Trees should always be given enough clearance from power lines so that there is no chance of them falling into the electric infrastructure. Not only can branches, limbs, or even whole trees that fall on power lines cause outages, but they can often lead to dangerous fires.

If you have dead trees threatening power lines already, you need to call Appalachian Power to deal with the issue. Their specially-trained technicians have the proper equipment, expertise, and experience to safely trim or remove nearby trees around live electric lines.

How Much Does Tree Removal Usually Cost in Christiansburg?

Tree removal around this part of Virginia is usually fairly affordable. Straightforward jobs may be as cheap as $150, while the most complicated and largest trees could cost up to around $2,000. No two trees are exactly alike, and several factors could affect the cost of tree removal.

Size

The size of your tree can drastically affect the cost of its removal. While small and easily accessible trees might be quick jobs, old, large trees can be an ordeal to remove and pose significant logistical challenges for safe and efficient removal.

Not only do large trees have a lot of material that will have to be dealt with and disposed of, but they carry a lot of weight that can potentially cause damage to nearby buildings, other trees, or even our arborists, as we’re working to remove them. Removal of large trees involves extra safety precautions and extra time to plan, to ensure that everyone and everything around stays safe during the process.

Accessibility

Trees that are difficult to get to can sometimes complicate their removal. Removing one tree in a grove of otherwise healthy trees, for instance, may take extra tools and planning to remove without causing harm to the others. 

If a tree is growing close to a building, it may be tougher to access and also take extra time to figure out solutions. This goes for more than just what’s around the tree and can extend to what’s not around the tree. Trees in extremely remote areas of your property with limited road access can create logistical challenges, which will result in higher costs.

Tree Health

For any tree you need to be removed, its health can be an important factor in how much its removal will cost. Even for dead trees, the health problems they had while alive can continue to affect them long after they’re dead. Diseased trees can still carry harmful pathogens that could infect nearby plant life and other trees, which means that they will have to be dealt with carefully and possibly even quarantined while being removed.

For trees that have been standing dead for a long time, rot will often have begun to set in as the result of water collecting and working its way into the tree. For these trees, limbs, branches, and even the trunk will be less stable, which could mean that these may fall in unpredictable ways, threatening our safety. While we’re used to dealing with these problems, any health issues the tree suffered from will likely affect the cost of its removal.