Quick answer
Yes. We trim and remove trees all over Bustleton, from Red Lion Road down to Pennypack Park and out to Roosevelt Boulevard. Because most houses are twins, a typical job involves a shared fence line, a neighbor's roof and sometimes the wire feeding both houses. Yards near the park's small streams add soft ground and leaning trees to the list. Phones are answered 24/7.
Two halves, one tree: twins and the lot line
Bustleton's housing is mostly side-by-side twins, with several dozen apartment and condo complexes and not one rowhome. In the 2000 Census, 62 percent of its 13,719 occupied units were owner-occupied, including 7,209 single-family homes with a median value of $120,000. Most tree decisions here are made by owners, often two of them for one tree.
Philadelphia puts a tree on private land on its owner, overhanging branches included. A neighbor may cut back limbs crossing the line at their own expense, but cannot step onto your half to do it without permission. On a twin that rule is never far away. We sort out access before the day: if a limb over the other half has to be cut from their yard, we need their okay first, and if they want more taken off from their side, that part is their bill. For limbs over both roofs, roof clearance trimming usually handles it without taking the tree.
Common Bustleton tree jobs
Twins, condo grounds and stream-side yards account for most of what we do in Bustleton.
- Tree TrimmingLimbs from one half of a twin spreading over the other half's roof and gutters, cut back to the lot line.
- Tree Trimming Near Service LinesBranches rubbing the overhead wire to the house, pruned once PECO has made the drop safe.
- Tree RemovalA yard tree that has outgrown a twin lot, lowered in pieces in the gap between the two houses.
- Leaning Tree RemovalTrees on wet ground beside the small Pennypack streams that have started to tip.
- Commercial Tree ServicePruning and removals around parking areas and walks at Bustleton apartment and condo complexes.
Small streams of the Pennypack watershed
Pennypack Park, part of the city's big park system, forms Bustleton's southern boundary, and the neighborhood's small streams all belong to the Pennypack watershed. The old Paul's Run once gave a water route from Bustleton Tavern down to the Delaware.
Low ground near a stream stays wet long after rain. A shallow-rooted tree in that soil can tip in a wind that would not move the same tree on a dry rise, so a tree standing near one of these streams deserves a closer look when it starts to lean. Soil lifting on one side of the trunk means it is time for leaning tree removal, not another season of watching.
Wires off Bustleton Avenue, Grant Avenue and the side streets
Roosevelt Boulevard bounds Bustleton on the east and Red Lion Road on the north. Bustleton Avenue and Grant Avenue meet at its center, and Welsh, Verree and Krewstown roads cross through.
Where a house is fed by an overhead line, the wire between the pole and the house is a common snag. PECO trims trees threatening its distribution lines but not that service line, which is the owner's or their contractor's job. PECO will make the service drop safe so pruning can go ahead, and it asks for that request at least two weeks ahead. Our service-line pruning page explains how that sequence runs.
Bustleton tree questions
You can have the overhanging part cut back at your own cost, from your side only. Pruning more than that, or removing the tree, is the owner's call and the owner's bill.
Yes. Complexes usually need trimming over parking areas and walks plus the occasional removal, and we work to the schedule the property manager sets so residents can move their cars.
Give it at least two weeks, since PECO asks for that much notice to make the service drop safe. Call us first and we will tell you whether your job needs it.
Wet ground grips roots less firmly, so a tall tree by a stream can tip in a storm that leaves drier trees alone. Watch for fresh lean or soil heaving on one side.
Neighborhoods near Bustleton
Tree trouble between two Bustleton halves?
Call and tell us what is going on. We will look at both sides of the line and price the work before anything is cut.