Tree Removal in Murfreesboro, TN

Tree removal on a Murfreesboro lot usually means taking a tree apart from the top, not felling it in one piece. Subdivision lots are close together, backyards hold fences, decks and play sets, and the tree is often leaning toward the one direction it should not go. A climber or a lift removes the limbs first, then the trunk in sections, and anything too heavy to drop is lowered on a rope. What drives the time and the price is less the tree's height than its condition, the access, and what sits underneath it.

Signs a tree should come out

Some cases are clear: a dead tree, a trunk with a long open crack, a large cavity or mushrooms at the base, or a fresh lean with the soil heaved up on one side. In Murfreesboro, shallow soil over limestone makes that last sign worth taking seriously, because the roots have less depth to hold onto. Other cases are judgment calls: a healthy tree that has outgrown its spot, a hackberry dropping limbs on the roof, or a Bradford pear that has already lost one side. We tell you what we see, and if pruning would solve the problem, we say so.

Bradford pears, ash and storm-weakened trees

Many removal calls here are Bradford pears. The tree's narrow forks are prone to splitting, and once one fork fails the rest of the tree is usually weak too. Ash trees are another concern: emerald ash borer has killed ash across much of the eastern United States, and once the beetle is established in an area, untreated ash trees are expected to die within about ten years. Dead ash gets brittle, which makes climbing and rigging harder, so removing a declining ash while the wood is still sound is usually simpler and cheaper. After an ice storm or wind event, trees with hanging limbs or cracked unions go to the front of the list.

Trees by the street, the creek or the lines

If the tree grows in the street right of way, the City of Murfreesboro treats it as a public tree, and the city's ordinance requires a permit before anyone other than the City Arborist or city contractors works on it. Removing a tree from the strip along the street for construction also needs a permit, and the owner bears the cost, including the stump. If your lot backs onto a creek inside a streamside buffer, Water Resources allows removal of individual trees likely to fall on a home but asks that the stump and root wad stay where feasible. Near power lines, Middle Tennessee Electric handles anything touching or close to its lines; we work on the rest of the tree once the line is clear.

Where the wood goes

You decide. We can leave the logs in rounds for firewood, cut to length, or haul everything; brush can be chipped and the chips left for mulch or taken away. The city picks up brush at the curb only in pieces up to 6 feet long and 8 inches thick, so a full removal usually needs chipping and hauling on top of that. The stump is a separate line on the quote and can be ground the same day or later.