Tree Service in Boise, ID

Tree Service in Boise starts with a simple fact about the place: almost none of the big shade here grew on its own. French trappers named the river for the cottonwoods that lined it in an otherwise dry valley, and the rest of the canopy was planted. Thomas J. Davis put in several thousand fruit trees in 1864, downtown businesses planted street trees through the 1870s, and in 1907 Davis gave 43 acres of his orchard to the city for what became Julia Davis Park. The airport averages about 11.5 inches of precipitation a year, so nearly every yard tree in Boise lives on irrigation and on whatever pruning its owners have given it over the decades.

Who owns the tree by your curb

This is the first question we sort out on a Boise visit, because it decides who pays and who signs off. Trees in the public right-of-way are street trees, and Boise Community Forestry manages them. The city removes dead, diseased or hazardous street trees at no cost to the adjacent homeowner, after its own staff assess the tree, and it replants with large-stature species where the planting strip is wide enough. Routine pruning, though, falls on the adjacent property owner under the Boise Tree Ordinance, and the city cycles through neighborhoods on a pruning schedule of roughly seven to eight years. If you want a street tree pruned sooner than that, Community Forestry issues a free permit before a private tree service does the work. We check the permit is in hand before any cut is made over the sidewalk or street.

Historic districts add a step

In Boise's historic districts, removing a tree is one of the projects that needs a Certificate of Appropriateness. Depending on the district, the property's contributing status and the scope, the review is either a staff-level decision with a 15-day review period, mailed notice to neighbors and a 10-day appeal window, or a public hearing before the Historic Preservation Committee. Plan for that time. We can give you a written assessment of the tree's condition to attach to the application.

What the work looks like here

• Crown cleaning and weight reduction on the old shade trees of the North End, the Bench and the river corridor
• Clearance pruning over roofs, driveways and sidewalks
• Removal of private trees that are dead, split or leaning toward the house
• Stump grinding so the lawn or a new planting can go back in
• Pruning young trees in newer subdivisions so they grow one strong trunk
• Storm cleanup on private property after windstorms

Wind is the storm that matters

Boise does not get hurricanes or much ice, but it does get hard wind. Ada County has had 12 documented tornadoes since 1950, four of them on August 3, 2000, none rated above F1, and summer wind events are common enough that the August 25, 2008 fire near Amity and Holcomb started during one. For trees, the risk is wind meeting a heavy, unpruned crown. If a large limb comes down on the street or sidewalk, Community Forestry crews move private-tree debris out of the way, but hauling it off is the owner's job. If a line is involved, stay back and call Idaho Power at (208) 388-2323.

Getting an estimate

Call (208) 369-9847 or send the form. Tell us the address, roughly how big the tree is, and whether it sits in the planting strip or on your side of the sidewalk. We walk it with you and give a written quote. Get a free estimate