Storm Season Tree Safety Tips

March 31, 2018 by Joseph Skibbie

Protect Your Trees From Weather Disasters

Storm season tree safety tips — Following these tips to reduce changes of tree related disasters during the storm season.

Winter and early spring can be a perilous time for trees. Snow and ice can wreak havoc on branches and roots, and extreme temperatures can also cause stress. While you can’t shelter your trees from all weather disasters, you can follow some easy storm season tree safety tips to protect them—and yourself.

Keep tree limbs pruned

Overgrown limbs can pose a risk to passersby or your property. During the winter months, trees are in their dormant stages of growth—and it’s an ideal time to prune. Locating and removing weak-jointed branches is important to protect both you and your tree. We pay extra attention during pruning to weak, narrow-angled, v-shaped branch crotches, as these are often most susceptible to breakage. Additionally, branches over your house, sidewalk, or car can be cabled or braced for added protection.

Resist the temptation to shake your branches

When winter storms come through, tree branches are often laden with snow. Sometimes, the branches even droop or bend under the snow’s weight. Resist the temptation to shake those branches. Cold and ice can make them brittle, and you could damage them beyond repair. Instead, let nature take its course.

Stay away from branches laden with ice and snow

This one may be common sense but is worth emphasizing—don’t park or walk under branches laden with snow or ice.

Be vigilant about salt use

Areas that receive a lot of snow typically use a lot of salt on roads and sidewalks. The salt can definitely damage your tree. Avoid shoveling a bank of snow around the base of your tree, as the salt in the snow can damage the roots, bark, and other aspects of the tree. If there is a bank of snow around your tree, consider using a gentle watering to wash away some of the snow and salt when the weather permits.

Protect your trees from snowplows

That bank of snow around a tree’s base can also mean it’s harder for snowplows to see where the tree is. As a result, snowplows could hit your tree, causing a wound that’s not evident until spring. Trees planted on parkways and roadsides are most vulnerable.

Take care of breakage right away

If a snow or ice storm comes through, and you notice broken or damaged limbs, call a tree service right away. Broken limbs disrupt a tree’s circulatory system and should be addressed as soon as the weather allows. It’s possible that prompt attention will help prevent further damage to your tree.

If you’ve done all this, and a winter (or early spring) storm comes through and severely damages or downs your tree, you’ll want to act quickly to call for emergency tree removal.

Keep these storm season tree safety tips in mind:

Keep away from damaged trees. You don’t want to walk or park under obviously damaged branches. Keep cars, small children, and pets away from the damaged tree.

Call for service right away. Contend with the situation quickly, as a damaged tree is a liability. Look for a 24/7 emergency tree removal service in your area—at Advanced Tree Care, we pride ourselves on quick response time and serve a two-state, nine-county area.
Hire a licensed, bonded service led by a certified arborist, such as Advanced Tree Care. Tree work can be complex and mistakes are costly, so entrust the job to an expert like us.

Advanced Tree Care combines top-notch equipment, cutting-edge technology, and well-trained staff to provide emergency tree removal and tree maintenance services. With a presence in nine counties and two states, we work daily to provide unparalleled customer service, safety, and efficiency—as well as the expertise to beautify your landscaping and community. Advanced Tree Care isn’t just our name—it’s also our purpose!

Emergency Tree Removal Service

March 15, 2018 by Joseph Skibbie

Call 24/7 With Your Tree Removal Emergency

Children and adults alike can become very attached to trees. When it comes time for a tree removal emergency, you should be prepared to make a quick decision on this emotional subject. Dead or damaged trees are unsteady. High winds or a sudden storm could pose risks to your home, your family, and passersby or vehicles if the tree is near the street.

To avoid further damage or liability, you must be prompt in calling a tree removal service. At Advanced Tree Care, we offer 24/7 emergency tree removal service in a service area covering two states and nine counties. Our Emergency Management Center is staffed around the clock and always ready to take your call. We’ll be able to provide information about emergency tree removal, answer your questions, and quickly dispatch staff and equipment.

What should you expect when you call with a tree removal emergency?

Certified arborist and a professional staff

While tree care is complex, emergency tree removal can be dangerous. Weather conditions, the location of the tree, and the presence of power lines can all elevate the risk factor. Our certified arborists have experience in removing trees in a variety of emergency situations. We’ll assess the emergency situation and create a plan for the tree’s removal. We’ll also use the correct safety equipment, rigging gear, and procedures for removal.

Licensed, insured and experienced company

We’ve been in business since 2008, and our founder had more than a decade of experience before that. That means we’ve seen it all. We’re fully licensed, bonded, and insured, which is important for liability and protection. If something unforeseen happens, we’re covered.

Quick response time

Tree removal emergencies require immediate attention—and, often, immediate action. At Advanced Tree Care, our Emergency Management Center is open all day, every day. We’re just a call away. With a two-state, nine-county area of service and 44 service units, we keep our response time to an hour or less, so that we can take care of your situation quickly.

Excellent customer service

Every member of our staff is expected to be prompt, professional, polite, and thorough. When we arrive at your site, we’ll answer your questions and address any concerns you have. We’ll tell you about our plan for your tree’s removal as well as anything else to expect while we’re on site. We are also committed to cleaning up, so that your site looks as good (or better) than when we arrived.

Advanced Thermal Tree Imaging

February 28, 2018 by Joseph Skibbie

The Latest Technology in Tree Care

At Advanced Tree Care, we take our name seriously by staying at the forefront of advances in tools and processes for tree care, pruning, and cutting. We’re committed to using technology as it advances. One of the latest tools we’re using is advanced thermal tree imaging.

Thermal tree imaging uses infrared imaging to assess tree health. It’s a non-invasive method that can clearly distinguish between living and damaged stem tissues in trees. Why might it be important to assess the overall health of trees on public or private property?

Tree care and maintenance are an important part of property management. If you’re a homeowner—or buying a new home—you’ll want to know how healthy your trees are, and if there are signs of damage or disease, you’ll want the best information possible. There are commercial considerations too: village administrations and commercial property owners need to attend to the care, maintenance, and replacement of trees on their properties, too. The reasons for doing so include public safety as well as historic preservation, in some cases.

What is Advanced Thermal Tree Imaging?

Thermal tree imaging is a highly effective way to determine how healthy those trees are, which ones need dead limbs pruned, and which ones might need to be removed.

Traditionally, inspecting trees to determine health and structural integrity can be time-consuming and invasive. Trees need to be closely inspected. Often, the bark must be disturbed, or our staff has to climb the trees to inspect areas of interest. Invasive testing may be required.

Thermal tree imaging changes all that. The technology gives us both great accuracy and efficiency at once. By taking and examining infrared images, we can distinguish between living and damaged stem tissues in the tree. We can make educated decisions—with clear evidence—about which trees are healthy, and which are diseased or damaged. Together with the property owner, we can make informed decisions about maintenance or removal.

Not only is it non-invasive, thermal tree imaging is also much quicker than other methods of inspection—up to 1,000 times faster at providing the critical information we need. If we’re using thermal tree imaging to appraise the health of trunks and branches, we can inspect dozens of trees in a single day. If we’re inspecting a small, more specific part of a tree—perhaps the trunk only, for decay—that total can be even higher.

So what is it we’re looking for with thermal tree imaging? We’ll tell you. In comparison to other living organisms, trees produce relatively low metabolic energy. Most of what healthy trees emit has already been absorbed by the surrounding environment. On the infrared images, a healthy tree will have relatively even water distribution between its cells and an even heat dissipation over its entire surface.

If a tree is diseased or damaged, the image appears different. The flow of heat energy is interrupted, and cooler areas are apparent in the image. The more cooling there has been internally, the more effect there is on the temperature of the tree’s surface. Once identification of an issue is made, we can proceed with pruning, treatment, or removal.

The Vision for Advanced Tree Care

February 15, 2018 by Joseph Skibbie

What We Mean When We Say Advanced Tree Care

When we chose the name Advanced Tree Care, we did so for several reasons. It was an ideal name to signal our breadth and depth of experience in tree care—our capabilities to serve you and your trees. It also reflected our commitment to using the latest advances in technology in our business operations. Of course, technology evolves—and so do we, as we adopt new tools for efficiency, operations, and customer service.

To tell you why technology is so important to us, we must start at the beginning. That story is about our founder and his vision for Advanced Tree Care.

When Mike Bramucci started ATC, he knew his experience and knowledge could improve the tree care industry.

A vision from the beginning

Mike Bramucci started Advanced Tree Care in 2008 with only a pickup truck and a handful of tools in addition to his experience and vision. Mike had started his career at age 16 with a local tree care firm. By age 18, he’d moved up through its ranks and had also earned ISA certification. At that time, he was the youngest certified arborist in the state of Illinois.

Frustration with slow technology adoption

For the next ten years, Mike continued to gain experience as a team leader and perfect the art of tree care. By 2005, he was frustrated. Technology—for communications, operations, and other aspects of business and life—had advanced considerably, but the tree industry lagged behind. Mike encountered resistance to change as well. He knew there was a better, more efficient, more advanced way of doing business—and caring for trees.

Seeing an opportunity to do better

Mike felt the best way to pursue this vision was to found his own company. He sought to provide the best customer service by incorporating advances in technology and equipment. Technology would make running the business more efficient, meaning better customer service, better response times, and better tree care. By combining technology and a well-trained staff, Advanced Tree Care delivered for its customers from the beginning.

Over a decade of growth

Today, Advanced Tree Care serves two states with a combined fleet of 44 trucks and equipment. Its clients include over 10,000 residential customers and 12 government agencies. We’ve set the standard for controlling operating costs and passing savings along to you.

To us, success means sustained commitment to our customers and to continual advances that prepare us to better serve you. We provide our certified arborists and staff with the most advanced tools and innovative services available, for an efficient and effective workflow from start to finish on each job. We work daily to beautify your landscaping and community. Advanced Tree Care isn’t just our name—it’s also our purpose!

8 Ways to Identify the Right Tree Cutting Service

February 9, 2018 by Joseph Skibbie

Tree Cutting Service

Your trees are a major part of your yard and landscape. Most people become very attached to them for the beauty and shade they provide. If and when they need to be pruned or removed, it’s important to find the right tree cutting service.

Many people hire a tree cutting service under duress—after a storm, when trees are ravaged by disease, or when their limbs become weakened. Take time to learn the eight most important factors in choosing a tree cutting service before the need arises:

Does the service employ a certified arborist? Excellent tree care, pruning, and cutting are the result of specialized and expert knowledge. A professional tree cutting service led by a certified arborist will deliver superior comprehensive service.
Choose a licensed service. You should hold a tree cutting service to the same hiring standards you have for other professionals.
Make sure the service is insured. A tree cutting service that chooses to cut corners on the costs of insurance could also pass the cost of liability on to you should something unforeseen happen. At Advanced Tree Care, we are licensed, bonded, and insured.
Hire for experience. Would you hire a service that was started last week? We wouldn’t either. Advanced Tree Care was started in 2008, which means a decade of success.
Be sure you’re hiring an actual tree cutting service. Some landscape services offer tree care, but knowing how to care for your lawn and landscape doesn’t mean also knowing how to properly and safely cut down your tree. Again, we emphasize you entrust your tree care to a service led by a certified arborist.
Look for a commitment to excellent customer service.We prioritize customer service at Advanced Tree Care. To us, excellent customer service means promptly returned phone calls, a pleasant manner, dedication to a job well done, and a yard left as clean (or cleaner) than when we arrived.
Understand ‘area of service.’ ‘Area of service’ means the geographical zone that the tree cutting service will travel within. With a two-state, nine-county area of service, Advanced Tree Care covers a lot of ground.
Look for technology utilization. At Advanced Tree Care, we believe staying on the vanguard of technology helps us offer you better service and tree care. Not only do we use advanced tools to improve communication, we’re also continually educating ourselves on breakthroughs in tree care to offer the latest in innovation and efficiency.