Tree Service in Knoxville, TN

Tree Service in Knoxville changes a lot from one side of town to the other. The city covers almost 99 square miles of land, and its elevation runs from just over 800 feet at the riverfront to more than 1,000 feet on West Knoxville hilltops. Sharp's Ridge in North Knoxville tops out at 1,391 feet, and Brown Mountain in South Knoxville reaches about 1,260. A tulip poplar on a flat lot in Fourth and Gill and the same tree halfway down a South Knoxville slope are two very different jobs, and we plan each one on its own ground.

Why the terrain matters for tree work

On a slope, the direction a tree wants to fall is rarely the direction you want it to go. Logs roll, brush slides, and a lift or chipper may not be able to reach the back of the lot. On those properties we usually take a tree down in pieces, lowering limbs and trunk sections on ropes instead of felling it whole. Flat lots near the creeks bring the opposite problem: soft, wet ground after rain, where heavy machinery can rut a lawn. We look at both before we quote.

Creek corridors and wet roots

First, Second and Third Creek, along with Sinking Creek, Ten Mile Creek and Turkey Creek, all thread through the city on their way to the Tennessee River. Knoxville averages just under 52 inches of precipitation a year. Trees that grow along those drainages tend to have shallow, spreading roots in damp soil, and a tree that has stood for decades can start to lean after a long wet stretch. If you notice the soil lifting or cracking on one side of the trunk, treat it as urgent.

Neighborhood by neighborhood

Knoxville's housing has layers. The late-1800s streetcar suburbs, such as Fourth and Gill, Parkridge and Fort Sanders, have Victorian and Craftsman homes with tight lots and old trees close to foundations and porches. Lindbergh Forest and Sequoyah Hills grew up as early automobile suburbs in the late 1920s and 1930s, and their canopy is now close to a century old. The ranch-house neighborhoods built after World War II usually have more room, but the trees planted then are reaching full size over roofs and driveways. Each era brings its own mix of problems:

• Old-street lots: limbs over the roof, roots near sidewalks and foundations, little room to drop wood
• 1920s-30s suburbs: big, mature hardwoods that need careful structural pruning, not topping
• Postwar ranch lots: fast-growing trees from the 1950s and 60s that are now declining or crowding the house
• Newer West Knoxville subdivisions: young trees that benefit from early training cuts

Snow, ice and wind

Knoxville's normal seasonal snowfall is only 4.6 inches, but the big events are what break trees. The city's one-day record is 17.5 inches, set on February 13, 1960, and the March 1993 Storm of the Century dropped about 15 inches here. Wet snow on fully leafed or evergreen limbs is what snaps hardwoods and pines. Thinning dense crowns and removing weak, cracked leaders before winter lowers that load.

Getting a quote

Call (865) 401-8827 or use the form to describe the trees and the address. We come out, look at the trees and the access, and write down exactly what we will do, what happens to the wood and the stump, and the price. Nothing starts until you agree to the written quote. Get a free estimate