Tree Service · Nashville, TN
The Nashville homeowner's guide to tree service
What the work involves, what drives the price, what your options are, and what a bad job looks like — written so you can judge any tree service in Middle Tennessee, including us.
Estimate request
Tell us about the job.
Straight to us, and a reply the same day.
By Michael Blair, owner, Nashville's Tree Service · who we are
Warning signs
How to know you need us
Recognize one? Have it looked at before it grows.
- Dead limbs in the upper canopy, or a section that leafs out later than the rest
- Mushrooms or conks growing at the base or on the trunk, which indicates internal decay
- A crack or seam running vertically down the trunk
- Sudden lean, or soil heaving on one side of the root plate
- Limbs over the roof, the drive or a power service line
- Ivy or vine growth heavy enough that you can no longer inspect the trunk
Your options
More than one right answer.
A tree service who only ever recommends the most expensive option is not giving you advice. Here is the honest range.
Pruning and crown reduction
Removes weight and wind load from a structurally sound tree. Often the alternative to removal.
Deadwooding
Taking out dead limbs only. The cheapest meaningful risk reduction on a mature tree.
Removal
Where the tree is dead, hazardous or in the wrong place. Sectional dismantling where it cannot be felled.
Stump grinding
Below grade so the area can be planted or turfed, with the grindings either removed or backfilled.
What it costs
What actually drives the price.
We do not quote tree service over the phone, because an honest number needs somebody to look at the job. These are the things that move it.
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Size and species
Height, canopy spread and trunk diameter drive the price, and a dense hardwood carries far more weight per cubic foot than a softwood of the same size.
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Proximity to targets
A tree that can be felled into open yard is a fraction of the cost of the same tree over a roof, a pool or power lines, which has to come down in pieces.
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Access for equipment
If a chipper and a truck can reach it, the job is efficient. Backyard trees with no gate access are hand-carried and priced accordingly.
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Stump and debris
Grinding the stump and hauling the wood are separate decisions, and leaving the chips on site can reduce the cost.
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Emergency versus scheduled
A tree already on the house is a different job from one you want gone next month, and it is priced differently for good reason.
Estimates are free, written and without obligation. Anything found only after starting is priced up front.
What happens
From your call to the finished job.
Assessment and quote
On site, looking at the tree, the targets and the access, because a quote by photograph is a guess.
Scheduling
Emergency work as fast as we can get a crew and equipment. Planned work within a couple of weeks in normal conditions.
The work
Most residential removals are a single day. Rigging over a structure takes longer and should.
Clean-up
Chips, brush and rounds cleared, and the lawn raked rather than left rutted.
Done badly
What goes wrong, and why it matters.
Shortcuts that cheapen the quote and cost you later. Ask anyone you are considering about them.
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Topping a tree
Cutting the crown back to stubs produces weak regrowth and a more dangerous tree within a few years. It is not pruning.
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Working near power lines
Service drops and primaries are not a homeowner job, and in many cases not a general tree job either.
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Removing more than a quarter of the canopy at once
Over-pruning stresses the tree and invites decline in the following season.
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Grinding a stump too shallow
A few inches down leaves roots that sprout and a hollow that settles. Grinding needs to go properly below grade.
Before you hire anyone
Six questions worth asking any tree service.
Including us. If a tree service cannot answer these easily, that is the answer.
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Are you insured for tree work specifically, with workers’ compensation?
General liability written for tree work, plus workers’ comp — the certificate, sent from the insurer. Tree work is where the uninsured injury lands on the homeowner.
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Is there a certified arborist involved in the decision?
Someone credentialed decides whether the tree comes down or gets pruned. A crew that only removes will always find a reason to remove.
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Does the tree actually need to come down?
The honest answer is often no. A dead limb is a prune; a healthy tree with a lean is an assessment, not a removal.
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What is included — stump, debris, wood, cleanup?
Each on the estimate: grinding, haul-off, whether the wood stays, and the yard left as it was. A removal price without the stump is half a price.
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How will you protect the house, the roof and the lawn?
Rigging, a crane where the drop zone is small, and mats for the equipment. A big tree near a house is a rigging job, not a cut.
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Do you top trees?
The right answer is no. Topping is a wound that produces weak growth; an arborist who offers it is telling you what they know.
FAQ
Choosing a tree service in Nashville
How do I choose a tree service in Nashville?
Every tree crew we run carries liability insurance written for tree work and workers’ compensation, on file with us, and a certified arborist is on staff or on call for the removal decisions. Ask the six questions below of anyone, including us.
Should I get more than one quote for tree service?
Yes — and compare the scope, not the total. Tree work in Nashville is priced by the tree — its size, what it hangs over, how it has to come down and whether the wood is hauled or left — and a quote given without walking the yard is a number to be suspicious of.
Is the cheapest tree service quote usually a bad idea?
Not automatically; a low number is information. It is the fastest way to kill it slowly and the surest sign of a crew that does not know trees.
Do I need a permit for tree service in Nashville?
Metro Nashville and the surrounding counties and some HOAs regulate removal of trees above a set size; the crew checks the rules for the address before the saw starts.
How far in advance should I book tree service?
A tree on a house or a road in Nashville is answered the same day, around the clock; a removal or a pruning job is scheduled within a week or two, longer after a regional storm.
Free estimate
Need a tree service in Nashville today?
Tell Nashville's Tree Service what is going on and we will come back with a free written estimate. No obligation, no pressure.