Tree Service in Roanoke, IN

Tree Service in Roanoke means caring for trees in one of the older towns on the Fort Wayne to Huntington corridor. Roanoke began around 1848, soon after the Wabash and Erie Canal was built through what had been Miami hunting and fishing grounds. It became a shipping point and supply town for nearby parts of Allen, Huntington and Whitley counties, and was incorporated in 1874. Today it is a town of 1,762 people in Jackson Township, Huntington County, with 861 housing units at the 2020 census.

The setting

Roanoke's center is compact, about 1.2 square miles in all, with homes set close together on older lots. Around it the land opens up into farms and homes on larger parcels, and Aboite Township lies just across the Allen County line to the northeast. So in one week we might take apart a maple wedged between two houses on a downtown street and then fell a dead tree on a five-acre lot with nothing in the way.

Reading a big old tree

Owners of older homes in town often ask us whether their big tree is safe. We can't promise any tree will never fail, but we can tell you how likely it is and what it would hit. Things we check:

• Deadwood: dead limbs larger than a few inches across, especially over the house, drive or sidewalk
• Unions: where trunks or big limbs meet in a tight V with bark trapped in between
• Decay: cavities, soft wood, mushrooms or conks on the trunk or root flare
• Lean and roots: a lean that has changed, or soil heaving at the base
• Past damage: old topping cuts, storm breaks, or roots severed by sidewalks and utility work

Most trees need some pruning, not removal. When removal is the right call, we explain why.

Newer lots outside town

On the newer parcels around Roanoke, the trees are usually younger and the issues are different: a fast-growing tree planted too close to the house, young trees with two competing leaders, or a woods edge exposed when the lot was cleared. Corrective pruning on a young tree costs a fraction of what fixing a large one later will.

Utility and roadside lines

U.S. 24 runs past Roanoke, and the tall WOWO and WRNP radio towers stand along that highway. Most residents, though, are more concerned with the ordinary lines on their street. Trees near the main lines on the poles are the utility's work. Limbs on the service drop to your house are typically the owner's to manage, after the utility disconnects the line.

Brush and cleanup

Before the job starts, we agree in writing on what happens to the wood: chipped and hauled, cut into rounds and stacked, or a mix. We clean the work area, rake the lawn and blow off the drive before we leave.

Timing the work

The best time for most structural pruning is late winter, when leaves are off and the branch structure is easy to see. Oaks are best pruned between December and February, because Purdue Extension calls March through November the high-risk period for oak wilt. Dead or broken limbs, on the other hand, should come out whenever they are found. They don't wait for a season, and neither should you.

Request a visit

Call (260) 305-9252 or use the form. We visit, walk the trees with you, and give you a written estimate. Get a free estimate