Quick answer
Yes, we work throughout Delaware County, from Upper Darby out to Thornbury Township. Two things drive most calls: storms, like the August 2023 wind that uprooted, topped or stripped hundreds of trees, and emerald ash borer, which reached the county late but kills ash within a few years. With homes this close together, most removals are rigged down in sections.
The August 2023 wind and the Thornbury tornado
On August 7, 2023, straight-line winds gusting to 95 mph uprooted, topped or stripped hundreds of trees across the county, some of them decades old. About 45 homes were damaged and the county 911 center took roughly 500 calls. At the end of October 2019, an EF2 tornado in Thornbury Township had already brought trees down and damaged up to two dozen homes, while PECO counted more than 107,000 customers out across the suburbs.
Wind damage is rarely finished when the wind stops. A topped tree leaves a jagged stub that can shed more wood for weeks, and an uprooted one leaves a root plate that may tip back. Broken wood is still under load, so each cut is planned. Our storm cleanup page explains how we sort a yard full of it.
What Delaware County owners call us about
Most of these come back to two causes: the borer and the wind. Tight lots shape how every one of them gets done.
- Ash Tree RemovalDead and dying ash, now that the borer has worked into one of the last Pennsylvania counties it reached.
- Storm Damage CleanupTopped, stripped and uprooted trees after wind like the 95 mph gusts of August 2023.
- Tight-Access Backyard Tree RemovalTight lots at roughly 3,130 people per square mile, where wood often leaves by hand through a gate.
- Running Bamboo RemovalRunning bamboo in townships such as Radnor, Haverford and Upper Darby that now restrict it.
- Emerald Ash Borer TreatmentAsh that still has most of its crown, treated so it can stay.
Ash in a county the borer reached last
Emerald ash borer reached the Philadelphia area around 2012, and Delaware County was among the last counties in Pennsylvania to be infested. Infested ash can die within three to four years, showing a dying upper crown, flaking bark and D-shaped exit holes.
Tyler Arboretum in Middletown Township gives a sense of scale: it identified close to 900 hazardous ash, with a first removal phase of about 584 trees expected to top $500,000. A dead ash turns brittle quickly, which makes it risky to climb, and on a county this crowded that often means a lift or a crane instead. Our ash tree removal page covers the method, and the guide on saving or removing an ash helps you decide first.
The county is small, just 184 square miles of land, third-smallest in Pennsylvania, yet it held 576,830 people in 2020. That density is why a dead ash here is rarely standing somewhere it can fall harmlessly.
Five creeks running south to the Delaware
Darby, Cobbs, Ridley, Crum and Chester creeks all drain south through the county to the river, and Ridley Creek State Park takes up about 2,600 acres. Trees on creek banks are prone to undercutting, and they tend to lean out toward the open water and the light.
Two other jobs come up across the county. Running bamboo is now regulated in Radnor, Haverford and Upper Darby, and Callery pear went on Pennsylvania's noxious weed list in late 2021. For the busiest corner of the county, see our Upper Darby page.
Delaware County tree questions answered
If the top of the crown is thinning, the bark is flaking off, or you can see small D-shaped holes, very likely. The county was one of the last infested, so many ash are only now showing it.
Usually, yes. We take it down in small sections, lower each one on a rope, and carry the wood out by hand if there is no gate or driveway wide enough for equipment.
Not always. A topped tree can sometimes stay if the trunk is sound, but jagged stubs tend to decay. We look at the break, what crown is left, and the trunk before recommending anything.
Yes. Trees along Darby, Ridley or Crum creeks are often undercut or leaning toward the water, and soft banks mean careful rigging and plywood under the heavy wood.
Upper Darby and other nearby areas
Dead ash or storm damage in Delaware County?
Call any hour. Tell us what the tree is and what is under it, and we will explain how it comes down safely.