Tree Service in Spring Hill, AL

Tree Service in Spring Hill is mostly about old trees on established lots. Wealthy Mobilians first built summer houses on this hill, about 6 miles west of downtown, because it stayed freer of yellow fever than the low, swampy ground around the city. Two centuries later the neighborhood still has a lot of shade. Stewartfield, the 1849 Greek Revival house near the college, is known for its avenue of live oaks, and many streets off Old Shell Road have trees just as old.

Why the hill matters to your trees

The neighborhood sits on a tall, broad hill averaging 184 feet in elevation, with some spots at 215 feet. That is high ground by Mobile standards, and it changes the risk. Low lots in the city worry about saturated roots. Up here, the bigger concern is wind exposure. Tall pines and broad oaks on a ridge catch more of a tropical storm's gusts than the same trees in a hollow. When we prune a Spring Hill oak, the goal is a crown that lets wind pass through: we remove dead wood and crossing limbs and shorten heavy ends, and we do not strip the interior. ANSI A300, the national pruning standard, warns against the over-thinning that leaves long, whippy limbs.

Historic houses, close quarters

The 19th Century Spring Hill Neighborhood Thematic Resource put eight properties on the National Register on October 18, 1984. They include Creole and Gulf Coast cottages from 1832 to 1862, the 1850 Sodality Chapel and the 1859 St. Paul's Episcopal Chapel. Old houses like these often sit close to trees that are older than the additions built around them. Dropping a limb near a slate roof, a chimney or original porch columns means rigging pieces down on ropes, not letting them free-fall. We plan the rigging from the ground before anyone climbs.

City rules still apply

Spring Hill is inside the City of Mobile, so city tree rules govern the work. National Register listing is a federal honor; it is not the same thing as a locally designated city historic district, and the city's tree permit thresholds follow the local designation. Look up your parcel on the city's My Place map. If it is inside a local district, a Heritage Tree (oak other than water oak, magnolia, longleaf pine, hickory and a few others) of 8 inches DBH or more needs a permit before removal. Outside a district, a developed home lot does not need a permit for a private tree. Trees in the strip along the street are city trees in either case.

Common jobs on the hill

• Crown cleaning on mature live oaks and laurel oaks that overhang roofs and driveways
• Taking deadwood out of Southern magnolias, which hold their dead branches for years
• Removing water oaks that have started to hollow
• Pruning tall loblolly pines away from houses, or taking them down when they lean toward one
• Stump grinding after removals near old brick walks and garden walls, worked slowly to protect the masonry

Call (251) 355-2051 or send the form. We will walk the lot with you and mark every tree in the written quote. Get a free estimate