Tree Trimming in Irondequoit

Irondequoit is a fully built-out suburb wedged between Lake Ontario and the city of Rochester, mostly developed from the 1940s through the 1970s. Ranch homes and Cape Cods are the norm here, and the older residential lots along the lake bluff have large hardwoods that have been in place for decades. Because it's surrounded by water on two sides, wind exposure is higher than in most Monroe County towns. The lakefront neighborhoods get hit harder by storms than people expect.

Branches that hang over roofs or power lines in Rochester don't stay put through a lake-effect winter. The snow loads here can hit 40 inches in a single storm, and a limb that looked fine in October can split and come down on a fence or car by January. Neighborhoods like Irondequoit and the South Wedge have a lot of older maples and oaks — trees planted 50 or 60 years ago that are now big enough to cause real damage if they're not kept up.

We climb the tree or use a bucket truck, make cuts at the right collar — that's the raised ring where a branch meets the trunk — so the tree seals itself over time without rotting. We don't top trees, because topping kills the structure and leaves stubs that rot out in a few years, which means you'll pay more to deal with the mess later.