Ultimately, all Virginia Beach homeowners will have a tree issue that they are unable to solve on their own. A huge tree branch breaks over night and hangs over the driveway. A storm lays a pine tree over the back fence. An attractive specimen of oak develops rapidly spreading disease in the crown. The tree is overgrown, blocking the gutters, shading the garden and scratching the roof during windy weather. These are no trifles. These are genuine issues that pose a risk to property, safety and the value of your home and require a trustworthy Virginia Beach tree service who is familiar with how to resolve them.
At True Gen Tree Service LLC, we face these challenges everyday when serving Virginia Beach and the surrounding Hampton Roads communities. Our certified team will provide the knowledge, the equipment, and the care that your local homeowner needs to quickly and safely resolve your tree problems at an affordable price. We don’t simply show up and guess at what to do. We value each situation with a level of honesty and discuss the plan in a clear and concise way, and execute the work with a level of precision and professionalism that our customers always speak highly of.
This guide discusses the most common problems that homeowners in Virginia Beach encounter with trees, what a reputable tree service can fix, and what makes a good tree company from a company with a chainsaw. If trees are a problem for you today, this post has everything that you need to know.
The Most Common Tree Problems Virginia Beach Homeowners Face
The area of Virginia Beach is one of the most challenging coastal habitats for trees in Virginia. Salt air penetrates into neighborhoods via the Atlantic Ocean. Hurricane season is a threat to property for six months of the year. Fungal disease and pest infestation are most likely during the hot humid summer. Coastal soils in certain areas are sandy and in others clay, resulting in significantly different root problems and different soil conditions. All these conditions together result in a particular type of tree problems that Virginia Beach residents will experience with more regularity than residents in less challenging locations.
Storm Damaged Trees and Fallen Limbs
Storm damage is the most frequent tree emergency that True Gen Tree Service is called on to service in Virginia Beach. Large limbs, shallow rooted trees, or heavy branches dangling in the canopy from a hurricane, tropical storm or even a strong summer thunderstorm can split large limbs, blow over shallow rooted trees, or hang heavy limbs dangerously high, known as widow makers. These branches look fine from afar, but are very heavy and can drop without notice at any moment onto cars, buildings, people or pets below.
Virginia Beach homes near the ocean are the most affected during big storm events, but storm tree damage is heavy for many Virginia Beach neighborhoods inland from the coast, including Kempsville, Princess Anne and Great Neck. True Gen Tree Service is on call 24 hours a day for tree removal and will respond to any storm damage call in the city regardless of the size of the problem, ranging from a single broken limb to an emergency emergency removal of a tree which has fallen on an outbuilding, fence or house.
Dead and dying trees that pose hazards
There are no clear, dramatic signs that a dead tree is alive. It works its way progressively towards failure, until a normal wind gust or heavy rain causes it to collapse. Often, Virginia Beach residents find that their trees which were appearing to be struggling are actually dead or dying for more than a year.
Dying trees are really a very dangerous threat quickly. The rot and other internal damage cause the roots to lose their hold on the soil, making the whole tree unstable in unpredictable ways. True Gen Tree Service is honest with dead and dying trees and will suggest proactive removal before the tree chooses the time and place of its fall. It always costs less and presents significantly less risk to remove a dead tree at a time of your choosing rather than responding to it as an emergency when it falls.
Overgrown Trees Causing Property Damage
An overgrown tree can cause a startling variety of property damage problems that can build up over months and years. Overhanging branches constantly drip debris into the gutters, which can cause gutters to clog and lead to water damage to the fascia and soffit. Limbs rubbing against siding that cause exterior finishes to deteriorate and allow moisture to enter. Over time, trees growing near houses can damage sidewalks, foundations, and driveways by pushing against them and causing cracks in the concrete.
True Gen Tree Service resolves overgrowth issues through selective pruning, canopy thinning, and selective branch removal. We minimize damage to the tree and repair the property. If a tree has become too large for its site and is posing a continuing structural hazard to the house, we staff members will explain the situation to the homeowner and discuss the options for tree removal or tree maintenance.
Trees Too Close to Power Lines
One of the most hazardous combinations on any residential property is trees and power lines. Branches that extend into energized overhead lines form an electrical hazard that exists beyond the tree. A live line with contact to a damp tree trunk can render the ground around the tree hazardous. In the event of a storm, when branches fall on power lines, the wind may bring down the entire power line, resulting in power outages throughout a neighborhood and posing a safety hazard.
True Gen Tree Service takes great care to ensure they treat trees safely when near power lines, and they adhere to the appropriate safety guidelines for such situations. If energised lines must be de-energised before any safe work can be carried out, we arrange for this with the utility company. For Virginia Beach homeowners, we strongly recommend that they never try any tree work, even if it seems relatively easy from the ground, near any power line.
Diseased Trees Threatening Other Vegetation
Tree diseases don’t remain in a single tree. Diseased roots, spores carried by wind and insects are all avenues of fungal spread. To prevent harm to trees, landscape shrubs, and even trees on neighboring properties if the problem is left untreated for too long, a single diseased tree in your yard can transmit its infection to other trees.
Virginia Beach’s humid, warm climate makes it a favorable environment for several serious tree diseases, including oak wilt, root rot from various fungal species, and fire blight in fruit trees. True Gen Tree Service identifies disease early through thorough inspection, removes infected material before it spreads further, and advises homeowners on how to protect the remaining healthy trees on their property.
How True Gen Tree Services Addresses Each of these Issues
Knowing the cause of a tree problem is just half of the equation. The other half is knowing exactly how to do so safely, efficiently and safely to the property and the long term health of the tree, where possible. True Gen Tree Service follows a tried and true process on all jobs.
Solving Storm Damage: Fast Response and Safe Removal
If a storm damages your trees on your Virginia Beach property, each hour that they hang upside down or their roots still touch your roof costs you more in risk because you are avoiding them. With limbs dangling up or a tree down on your roof, every hour that passes adds to your risk, and you lose time by avoiding them. True Gen Tree Service puts storm damage calls on top of its priority list and will respond as quickly as possible. Our crew equips itself with professional quality gear, ready to evaluate, plan, and take action.
All storm damage projects start with a comprehensive safety evaluation. Wood that storms damage is unpredictable and contains stored strain that may cause branches to snap or spring out in unexpected directions when cut, releasing the tension. Our crew detects these tension points and then employs specific methods that allow for the energy to be released in a safe manner. The approach is methodical working from most dangerous first securing the scene and minimising the immediate threat, then dealing with secondary damage. All rubbish is taken away at the end of the job.
Solving Dead Tree Problems: Controlled Removal Before Collapse
When a tree is dead or dying, it will not react the same way as if it were alive during the removal project, so it must be carefully removed. Dead branches may break suddenly. Trunks with signs of rot can suddenly collapse during cutting. If a root system is not anchored in the soil, then it may be less reliable to cut in the direction. True Gen Tree Service takes great care when removing dead trees and works more conservatively using a section by section cutting method.
We cut from the top down, not trying to fall in one direction; we remove sections of the tree. This way, we have exact control over where every branch of the tree will hit, ensuring that your home, your landscaping, your fences and anything else in its way will be protected. Once we remove the trees, we grind the stump to prevent insect infestation and unappealing re-sprouting so that we can plant new landscaping or restore the lawn in the cleared area.
Solving overgrowth issues – strategic trimming and reduction.
The response to overgrowth issues should target the point of damage and not just reduce everything out of sight. True Gen Tree Service identifies the exact locations of overgrown branches where they pose the greatest danger or cause the greatest damage, and then designs a strategy for trimming or reducing the tree that addresses the specific issues, without compromising its health or natural form.
We undertake clearance pruning of a tree to ensure there is sufficient separation from a building, especially when branches are touching rooflines and/or gutters. If trees are overcast on lawns and gardens, we remove branches and open the tree canopy. Experts evaluate trees with roots that pose a threat to sidewalks or driveways to determine if surface root grinding will correct the situation or if removing the tree is ultimately the responsible long-term solution.
Solving Power Line Hazards: Expert Care in Electrical Environments
Working around power lines requires training, special equipment and a safety-first attitude that will never sacrifice speed. When considering all power line situations, True Gen Tree Service begins by determining if the lines are energised and if U.S. Safe Working Distance can be maintained so that our employees can work without the need to coordinate with the utility company. If it’s necessary to de-energize, we plan for that to happen before cutting.
When working near the infrastructure, we employ a highly accurate directional cutting, an appropriate rigging of ropes and careful handling of the debris in such a way that the debris does not fall to the lines or into the electrical environment. We work methodically; we don’t rush or take shortcuts because a job seems like it’s simple to us. Power line scenarios can certainly be complicated and they always have consequences for any error made, so we need to treat them with the utmost care and technique, every time!
Early Detection and Containment of Disease – Solving Disease Problems
Once a disease problem is identified, we should take action quickly to manage the disease in trees. True Gen Tree Service will remove infected branches and/or any diseased debris from the tree in a way that will minimize the spread of disease by the debris. Cuts made on diseased wood use disease cutting tools that workers disinfect between cuts to prevent the spread of disease from one cut to another or from one tree to another.
Once we take care of the initial disease issue, we recommend homeowner practices that can minimize losses to trees that are still healthy. This can involve modifying soil drainage, minimizing tree competition, and evaluating and eliminating secondary disease vectors. We clarify each suggestion in simple terms, enabling homeowners to understand what they’re up against and what they can do about it.
How to Prevent Tree Problems Before They Become Expensive
The best strategy for dealing with tree issues on your Virginia Beach property is to prevent them from becoming costly problems. Not only is proactive tree care less expensive than emergency response, it also helps to save your property more effectively than emergency response.
Have regular professional inspections
Tree troubles typically occur over time due to disease, structural weakness, root damage, or a collection of dead wood. A professional inspection identifies all these issues at their early stages, before they cause problems and become difficult and costly to fix. Professionals should check mature trees every 2-3 years, and more often if in high risk areas around water, powerlines or buildings.
Ensuring there’s time to outsmart the storm season
Hampton Roads hurricane season is from June to November. Those trees that are dense, have dead branches, weak attachment points, or a weak root system present a serious threat to storm damage and regular professional care significantly mitigates that risk. To prepare Virginia Beach homes for the storm season, True Gen Tree Service offers a targeted approach of trimming, removing dead wood, and assessing hazards. This preparation helps homeowners to save money in repairing their homes when the storms arrive.
Dead Trees are removed proactively
With the right conditions its occurrence as a falling hazard, a dead tree on your property is not only an eyesore, but a hazard waiting to happen. When trees are dead, they lose their strength quickly due to rot in the inside of the tree and failing root systems. Dead tree removal allows one to conduct the process at one’s own pace, ensures cost control, and avoids the emergency situation. True Gen Tree Service can accurately diagnose dead or dying trees and remove them safely, cleanly and affordably.
Invest in Young Tree Structural Pruning
Cuts to the tree structure during the first ten years of a tree’s life will determine the tree’s structural life. Properly structured young trees become more resilient to storm stress, stronger on branches, and have more balanced canopies as they grow. A long-term investment in professional pruning of young trees on your Virginia Beach property can yield decades of benefits in the form of trees that demand less emergency care and generate lower risk to your property.
Monitor Trees After Major Weather Events
Homeowners can take advantage of a once a storm inspection of their trees for damage following major storms. Any broken limbs, broken trunks, new hanging branches and lifted root balls are indications that a tree needs professional care before the next storm. True Gen Tree Service responds immediately to requests for post storm inspections and provides honest recommendations for action and for safe trees.
Understanding Tree Service Costs in Virginia Beach
Tree service fees are also dependent on the type of work and the size and condition of the tree involved in the project, as well as access and technique. Knowing all of these factors aids in assessing a quote and knowing how to spot a quote that is competitive, rather than an exceptionally low quote.
Factors That Affect Pricing
For most jobs, size of the tree is the biggest determinant of cost. Taller, wider trees will take longer to prepare, more equipment, and more skilled preparation of the crew. Tree condition is also important; a dead or weak tree may need more patience and care than a healthy tree of the same size. Location is also a key factor in pricing because crews will have to rig and plan trees near buildings, power lines, or difficult access areas in a different manner than open lot trees.
- Tree height and diameter.
- Tree structural condition and health.
- Closeness to buildings, overhead power lines and fences.
- Equipment access difficulty.
- Number of trees servicing at one time.
- Inclusion of stump grinding.
- Debris clean up needs.
Why Suspiciously Low Quotes Should Raise Concern
If the quote is much lower than any other bids you got, it should be a cause of concern, not excitement. If the price is abnormally low, there is likely a reason for that: The company does not insure itself, does not use qualified personnel, plans to leave behind debris, and/or thinks about adding additional charges while the work is in progress. The dangers of hiring a tree service company that is not properly trained or does not have the proper insurance are definitely more important than the short term cost savings.
True Gen Tree Service charges a fair and competitive rate for any job based on actual job requirements. We provide you with a thorough and honest quote; no hidden fees or pressure to make an immediate decision. Give us a call today at (757) 840-9608 for a free on site estimate.
When Insurance May Cover Tree Removal
Homeowners insurance policies typically include a provision to cover the cost of tree removal if the tree falls on your insured structure, like your home, garage or fence, due to a storm. Coverage is dependent on the specific policy and we strongly recommend that each Virginia Beach homeowner check with their insurance company after tree damage occurs due to a storm. True Gen Tree Service will record all storm damage in detail and can assist you with your insurance claim with pictures and written documentation of the damage prior to removing anything.
Conclusion
Tree problems will not go away. The dead limb will not reattach. Without professional help, a tree that is dying will not recover. Having a canopy that touches the roof does not mean it will not continue to grow. For every tree problem on your Virginia Beach property, either a professional service addresses it, or it continues to become more dangerous and costly over time until a storm or a slow failure forces you to address it at the least opportune and most costly moment.
True Gen Tree Service LLC provides Virginia Beach homeowners with a service that they can rely on for all the common tree issues that may arise on their property, in a trustworthy and honest way. Our certified crew will take care of any situation involving storm damage, dead trees, overgrowth, disease, stump problems, and canopy problems as professionally and thoroughly as we do on every job. We are a local company that brings to you the kind of community service that only a company with a local presence can do, and we serve you Virginia Beach, Norfolk, Chesapeake, Hampton and Portsmouth.
Don’t let a minor issue turn into a huge repair job. Call True Gen Tree Service today and schedule a complimentary consultation to your home and let our arborists look at your trees and discuss a plan to protect your property. We arrive with the equipment and tools ready to work, we outline the work to be done prior to our arrival and we perform every job with precision and care, leaving your yard looking better when we leave.
Frequently Asked Questions(FAQs)
What are signs to look for if the tree on my property requires professional service or can be left alone?
If there are signs of pests in the canopy, dead branches, fungal growth at the base, or unusual leans or visible cracks/splits in the trunk, a professional should evaluate the trees. When in doubt, call True Gen Tree Service at (757) 840-9608.
Is True Gen Tree Service able to go out and remove trees that are bigger than home projects?
Yes. From taking branches off a small ornamental tree to the removal of several large trees on a residential property, we are capable of handling all sizes of tree jobs.
Does True Gen Tree Service have insurance for all of Virginia Beach’s tree services?
Yes, all jobs performed have complete insurance coverage, no exceptions. This insurance covers you for any liability that may arise on your premises during our operation, if at all. Proof of insurance is available on request.
Does True Gen Tree Service provide services for commercial buildings in Virginia Beach?
Yes. Our tree service is available for homes and businesses in and around Virginia Beach and Hampton Roads.
So, what should I do to get ready for your guys to show up?
If feasible, clear a path for our equipment to reach the work area and move vehicles out of the way of the trees being serviced. Keep pets inside while working.
