Tree Health Assessments in Knoxville, TN

Tree health assessments are for the tree you are not sure about. Maybe the top of a black walnut is yellowing in mid-summer, a hemlock has gone a dull gray-green, mushrooms have come up around the base of an oak, or a pine in the back corner turned brown in a few weeks. A careful look often tells you whether the tree can be kept with some care, needs pruning to be safe, or should come down before it falls. That is a decision worth making with information, not a guess.

What we look at

• The crown: thinning, dieback from the top, off-color leaves or needles, early leaf drop.
• The trunk: cracks, cavities, seams, loose or missing bark, oozing, woodpecker damage, insect exit holes.
• The base and roots: fungus, decay, girdling roots, soil heaving, root damage from digging or grade changes.
• The structure: lean, weak forks with bark pressed inside them, codominant trunks, heavy limbs over targets.
• The setting: what the tree could hit, recent construction, drainage, slope and compacted soil.

East Tennessee problems we check for

Thousand cankers disease (black walnut). An established outbreak was found in the Knoxville area in late July 2010, the first in black walnut's native range. The walnut twig beetle carries a fungus into the branches; yellowing in the outer crown is often the first sign, and infected trees almost always die within two to three years.

Emerald ash borer (ash). Larvae tunnel under the bark in winding galleries, girdling the tree, and adults leave D-shaped exit holes. Systemic insecticides can protect high-value ash for one to three years per treatment, but some of those products may only be applied by licensed applicators, and heavily infested trees are usually beyond saving.

Hemlock woolly adelgid (hemlock). Look for small white, cottony egg sacs on the underside of branches; infested trees turn grayish-green and drop needles. A 2009 U.S. Forest Service study found it was killing hemlocks faster than expected in the southern Appalachians.

Southern pine beetle (pine). Pitch tubes, small lumps of resin that look like popcorn on the bark, are the giveaway. Drought-stressed pines are most at risk.

Dogwood decline. Dogwood anthracnose has caused severe dogwood mortality, and Phytophthora root rot and dogwood borers add to the trouble.

What you get

We tell you, in plain words, what we see, what it likely means and what your options are: leave it and watch it, prune out the problem, consider treatment, or remove it. Where treatment with a pesticide is the right answer, a licensed applicator has to do it, and we will say so. If you need a formal written report for insurance, a lender, a dispute with a neighbor or a construction project, ask for one up front, and ask whether it will be prepared by an ISA Certified Arborist; you can verify that credential on the ISA website.