Tree Service in Worcester, MA

Tree Service in Worcester is shaped by three things you notice the first time you walk a job here: the hills, the spacing between houses, and the beetle quarantine. A silver maple behind a triple-decker on Vernon Hill may have a driveway on one side, a neighbor's porch on the other and wires overhead. We plan each removal and pruning job around that geometry, and around the rule that host wood from inside the regulated area cannot simply be trucked out of it.

Who owns the tree by the sidewalk?

The city's Department of Parks, Recreation and Cemetery cares for and removes city-owned trees, which generally means the trees in the sidewalk strip next to the street and on city property. Trees on private land and private streets belong to the owner. If you are not sure which side of that line a tree falls on, the city asks residents to call Forestry at 508-929-1300, and a street tree you think is unsafe can be reported through 311 for a safety inspection. We will not cut a public shade tree without the tree warden's written approval, which Worcester's tree ordinance requires.

What the beetle program means for your wood

Worcester has been inside the Asian longhorned beetle regulated area since the insect was found in the city in 2008. Moving firewood, logs or other host wood out of the area is prohibited. The beetle favors maples (boxelder, Norway, red, silver and sugar), along with birch, elm, horse-chestnut, willow and Ohio buckeye. For a homeowner, that means a removal is usually chipped on site, and any wood you keep for your own fireplace stays in the city. The city notes that homeowners may burn wood from their own trees, but it should be checked for beetle signs first: round exit holes about the size of a pencil, oozing sap, and piles of coarse sawdust at branch unions.

A canopy that has changed

According to the city's Urban Forest Master Plan, Norway maple made up about 60% of Worcester's street trees in 2005 and about 28% in 2022, after thousands of host trees were removed during the beetle eradication. The same plan counts 23,137 street trees in 2022, up from 15,486 in 2005, thanks in part to the replanting effort that followed. Many backyards still hold old Norway and silver maples planted in the mid-1900s. Those trees are prone to weak, tight forks and heavy limbs over garages, and they tend to be what we prune and remove most often in the city.

Jobs we handle on city lots

• Sectional removal of maples and oaks wedged between houses, lowering pieces by rope instead of dropping them
• Crown cleaning to take deadwood out over roofs, porches and parked cars
• Clearance pruning away from the house, so limbs stop scraping siding and gutters
• Stump grinding where a backyard is being reclaimed for a garden or patio
• Storm work after wind or ice, when a limb is hung up or resting on a fence
• Chipping on site, so host wood never has to leave the regulated area

Steep driveways and hill streets

Worcester sits at about 479 feet of elevation, and the city is famous for claiming seven hills, though it has more than that. On streets that climb Bancroft, Belmont or Pakachoag Hill, setting up a chipper and keeping logs from rolling takes extra care. When we quote a hillside job, we note where the truck can safely park and how brush will be moved to it.

Getting a price

Call (508) 731-3691 or send the form with your address and a couple of photos. We walk the yard, point out which trees are public and which are yours, and leave a written estimate that spells out cleanup and wood handling. Get a free estimate