Tree Removal in St. Louis, MO

Few St. Louis yards have room to cut a mature tree at the base and let it fall. Tree removal here usually means dismantling: a climber works up the tree, takes off the smaller limbs first, then lowers heavier limbs and sections of trunk on ropes until only a short stump is left. On a city lot, the drop zone might be a six-foot strip between two brick houses; in the county it might be a slope above a patio. That is why two trees of the same height can carry very different prices.

Signs a tree should come out

Some cases are clear: the tree is dead, the trunk has a long crack or a hollow at the base, fungus is growing from the roots, or the tree has started leaning and the soil has heaved on the opposite side. Others take judgment. A healthy pin oak whose roots are buckling a driveway, a silver maple that drops a limb every summer storm, a tree planted too close to the foundation fifty years ago: these can sometimes be managed with pruning, and we will tell you when that is a reasonable option.

Brick, alleys and old trees

After the fire of 1849, St. Louis changed its building code to require brick or stone, and the city's brick neighborhoods were laid out long before anyone worried about where a mature oak would fit. The result is big trees with little open ground around them, limbs reaching over two or three properties, and alleys too narrow for some trucks. Most of these removals are done with ropes and lowering devices, a chipper parked on the street or in the alley, and pieces small enough to carry.

Karst and slope

The ground under the city's south side is karst, limestone with sinkholes and caves, and parts of the region sit on bluffs above the rivers. Soft spots, slopes and retaining walls limit where heavy equipment can safely go. We look at the ground as carefully as the tree.

Whose tree is it?

A tree in the tree lawn between the curb and the sidewalk belongs to the City of St. Louis, and removing it requires a Permit to Maintain from the Forestry Division. If a city tree is dead or damaged, residents can report it through the Citizens' Service Bureau. We flag that before quoting. Trees on your lot do not need a city permit to come down, and suburbs in St. Louis County each set their own rules, which we check for your address.