Tree Trimming in Monson

Monson is a small rural town in eastern Hampden County with a classic New England character — a historic town center, a lot of undeveloped forest, and a population that's been relatively stable for decades. Most homes are older, either 19th-century village houses or mid-20th-century farmhouses on large wooded lots. It was severely damaged by the June 2011 tornado that tore through Hampden County. Tree damage and cleanup from that event changed how a lot of Monson residents think about tree risk.

Overgrown trees in Springfield drop limbs on houses, fences, and cars — especially after the ice storms we get every few winters off the Connecticut River valley. A lot of the maples and oaks in the Forest Park and Six Corners neighborhoods were planted 60 or 70 years ago, and they have never been properly shaped. Branches that thick don't come down clean on their own — they crack where the wood is already rotting inside.

We start by walking the tree and looking at where the weight is sitting before we cut anything. In yards where the ground is soft from spring thaw — which is most of March and April around here — we bring in the right equipment so we're not tearing up the lawn or working from a bad angle.