Quick answer
Yes, we take on tree work across East Falls. Jobs change with the hill: brick houses near the river tend to have tighter yards, while the stone houses higher up often sit on sloping lots with bigger trees. The calls that matter most are about hazard trees, the cracked, leaning or storm-hit ones, because one bad tree has closed a whole block here before.
The night Sandy closed Midvale Avenue
On the night of October 29, 2012, Hurricane Sandy brought down a large tree that blocked the 3400 block of Midvale Avenue. Mayor Nutter put the citywide count that night at 90 to 100 trees down.
When a tree is across a road or on a house or car, that is a 911 call first, and a tree on power lines goes to PECO. A tree that lands on private property is still the owner's to resolve once the emergency is over, and the city leaves the debris to residents. We answer around the clock and can come cut it off the roof or out of the drive.
Common East Falls tree jobs
Slope, storms and old trees on the hill drive most of what East Falls owners ask for.
- Tree Inspection & Risk AssessmentA tall tree above the house on a sloping lot gets checked for cracks, decay and root lift before you decide anything.
- Emergency Tree RemovalA storm-thrown tree on the roof or blocking the drive is cut off in pieces, any hour you call.
- Leaning Tree RemovalA trunk tipping toward the house or the street comes down in sections, lowered uphill where the ground allows.
- Tree Cabling & BracingA split fork on a tree worth keeping can be supported instead of removed, if the wood is still sound.
- Stump GrindingOn level ground near the river, stumps grind out cleanly; on steep banks we may leave roots holding the soil.
Brick near the river, stone up the hill
East Falls climbs uphill from the Schuylkill. Brick houses sit near the water, stone houses take over as the land rises, and some of the city's notable mid-century modern homes are mixed in. Prices run from about $200K to $2 million, so the properties, and the trees on them, vary a lot from one street to the next.
On the higher, steeper lots, Philadelphia's 2012 steep slope rules may come into play: they prohibit earth disturbance on slopes of 25 percent or more and need Planning Commission approval on lesser steep slopes. That affects how we place equipment and whether a stump is ground or cut flush. A tall tree on a slope above the house is also a candidate for a proper risk assessment before anyone decides it has to go.
Creek mouth, cemetery and McMichael Park
Wissahickon Creek empties into the Schuylkill River here, and a strip of city park woodland separates the neighborhood from the one on the far side. Historic Laurel Hill Cemetery lies inside East Falls too, and McMichael Park on Midvale Avenue is the largest green space apart from the riverbank.
That much wooded edge means plenty of homes look out on big trees they do not own. If a limb from your own tree reaches toward the park or the street, we can shorten it or take down a leaning trunk in pieces. Trees on park or cemetery ground are for their owners to manage.
East Falls tree questions
Watch for a fresh lean, cracks running into the trunk, mushrooms at the base or dead limbs high up. We can look at it and tell you plainly whether it needs work.
The road blockage is a 911 matter first. Once it is safe, a tree from private property is the owner's responsibility, and we can cut and haul it.
It can. Wood has to be lowered and carried uphill on steep ground, and the chipper may sit farther away, which adds time to the day.
We can cut back branches from your own tree, but not trees standing on park or cemetery ground. Those belong to the people who manage that land.
Close-by areas we serve
Unsure about a tree in East Falls?
Call and describe it. We will look at it in person and tell you whether it can stay, needs pruning, or should come down.