azaleas to zinnias baltimore Landscaping
No job is too big or too small, serving residential homeowners and commercial businesses. Whether your trees just need some trimming or pruning, a large branch has fallen or broken off, you need entire trees removed, or a storm, high winds, hurricane or tornado has damaged some trees on your property, let the experts at North Hill Tree do the job safely.

Our Services

Tree & Shrub Removal

Even though trees can live for a long time, thousands of years for some species, they all eventually die. Some trees become too hazardous to remain in the landscape. Others need to be removed for new buildings or for new landscapes designs. Whatever the reason, removing trees often requires the use of large or specialized equipment and should only be done by a skilled professional. Whether dead or dying trees pose a danger to people, property or other plants, they should be removed as soon as possible. As plants die, they become hosts to a variety of insects and diseases. These pest populations can grow and spread to other susceptible plants in the landscape if the hosts are not removed in a timely fashion. After a tree dies, it also begins to lose its structural integrity becoming more dangerous over time for the home owner as well as the arborist hired to remove it.

Stump Removals

After trees are removed, people often want to have the stumps ground out. This can be done any time after the removal, even years later. The resulting chips are usually pushed back into the hole and left on site. Other options include one or more of the following: removing the chips, refilling the hole with topsoil, spreading grass seed and straw.

Tree & Shrub Pruning

There are many reasons to prune trees and shrubs. Some of the most common reasons include keeping the plants safe, making them look better, promoting good health and structure, and reducing encroachment on buildings and other plants. Your tree's age and health also help determine what type of pruning it may need. There are also many techniques for pruning plants, some of which are not only out-dated, but are actually harmful to the plants. We strictly follow the proper pruning methods accepted by the International Society of Arborculture to promote plant health. To ensure that your plants get the best care, always make sure you use certified arborists for your pruning needs.

Pest & Disease Management

North Hill Tree Experts use an integrated approach to managing insects and diseases that begins with maintaining plant health using sound cultural practices including pruning and creating optimal soil conditions for plant growth. Periodic inspections are essential to detect pest infestations before they reach damaging levels. North Hill Tree arborists are trained to recognize beneficial insects that will help naturally suppress pest populations, and we also release beneficials to augment existing populations.

Additional Services

Safety Pruning
As trees age, most develop hazardous conditions such as large dead limbs, decay spots, broken or cracked limbs, week joints, or severe leans. Pruning a tree for safety entails removing or reducing the risk of these hazards. Cutting out dead or damaged limbs, as well as reducing weight on limbs with decay spots or weak attachments help minimize the danger presented by these trees.
Crown Cleaning
Crown cleaning is a general term that refers to the pruning of the top area of the tree that contains all the branches and foliage. This type of pruning promotes plant health by removing dead, diseased, and interfering limbs to a certain specified size. Middle-aged trees usually require crown cleaning every few years to correct emerging structural problems. Without these corrections when young, trees often develop structural problems as they age and are deformed if corrected too late or may need to be removed prematurely.
Crown Thinning
Thinning is the removal of a percentage of the crown's interior branches to reduce the number of rubbing limbs. Over time, decay spots form where limbs rub each other making them more likely to break as well as opening wounds on the tree and exposing it to pathogens. Trees are also thinned to increase light penetration for understory plants in flower beds or to promote grass growth. Careful selection of which branches to remove is essential to not deform the tree or cause other future problems.
Crown Raising and Clearance
Trees are very rarely given the room they need to reach their mature size without interfering with something. Not only do they get taller as they grow, but they also get wider and often have limbs that grow down. Throughout a tree's life, it is often necessary to remove, cut limbs back, or raise the canopy out of roads, away from other plants and structures.
Shaping
Many smaller bushes and shrubs are kept in a more formal appearance. They tend to be sheared or clipped into shapes like spheres, boxes, pyramids, and rectangles. Cutting off all the new growth to maintain these shapes often causes the plants to be stressed, which makes them more prone to attack by pests and diseases. Although many of the smaller plants are well suited for this and can handle the stresses associated with this type of pruning, they need special attention to monitor for potential problems. We tend to discourage this practice with the larger trees, but it is sometimes beneficial to cut back a few limbs that grow too far out of place.
Fertilization and Nutrient Management
Plants require certain nutrients and conditions to grow properly. Deficiencies often manifest as discoloration of foliage or stems, poor growth, excessive dead material, or secondary pest and disease problems. It is sometimes necessary to apply fertilizer, specific nutrients, or other amendments to the soil or directly into the plant. These applications help provide better growing conditions which results in healthier plants. Our fertilization technique uses a liquid fertilizer that is injected several inches into the soil. This is called deep root fertilization. It is designed to provide nutrients to the root systems of the target plants which generally extend below the root systems of turf or other ground cover that receives most of the benefits of surface applied fertilizer. The standard fertilizer we use has a high nitrogen content to promote growth and food production as well as a high percentage of slow release nitrogen allowing it to be used by the plant over the growing season. Other material can be added to this process that will promote root growth, root density, and nutrient absorption. Certain nutrients can be injected directly into the plants when a deficiency is identified. Other methods of application include spreading on the surface or incorporating into the soil. Depending on the needs of the plant, one or a combination of treatments may be required.
Target Sprays
Target sprays are the treatment of specific pests or diseases on individual plants. Application methods include sprays, soil drenches, and injections depending on the target pest or disease. There are many choices as far as which chemicals to use for a particular infestation. We use the least toxic material possible to achieve the desired control based on the level of infestation or resistance to pesticides. Some pests and diseases require multiple applications per season or over several seasons for proper control. When plants are prone to re-infection, they may need to be treated on a continual basis. This is common with pests that have natural population explosions every year or with diseases that are spread by certain environmental conditions. Untreated plants in the local area are also a source for re-infection.
Integrated Pest Management (IPM)
Some landscapes have a wide variety of plants that could have numerous current or potential problems. Many landscapes have plants that require special attention or care. There is also a concern for the amount of chemicals being introduced into our environment. If any of these things apply to you or your property, you may want to consider something other than target sprays for your plants' needs.

Our Integrated Pest Management (IPM) program uses a variety of control methods for maintaining a healthy landscape. These methods include cultural control practices, promoting a biological balance between beneficial insects and pest insects, monitoring environmental conditions, and pesticide applications. Instead of just having a target spray, which is done at a specified time, IPM is custom tailored to your individual landscape's needs. This is done through a specified number of property inspections. During these visits, the technician inspects the entire property and treats plants on an individual, as needed basis at the appropriate time. Since it is impossible to eradicate all pests, we monitor the populations of pest insects versus the populations of beneficial insects and treat only when the pest populations reach a level that is harmful to the plant. Being on the property several times throughout the season also allows us to identify the present pests or diseases before they become a significant problem, and allow us to implement preventative measures. By finding potential outbreaks while they are still small, far fewer and less toxic pesticides are needed to remedy the situation.

IPM programs are a cost effective way to have a healthier landscape by maintaining a balance with nature, and a healthier environment by using fewer chemicals. Although not every plant can be saved with the use of IPM, an appropriate program will give your landscape the chance to be more aesthetically pleasing and provide greater enjoyment for you and your family.
Cabling and Bracing
Trees with weak branch unions are often damaged in storms by losing limbs. When branches move apart, it puts a lot of force on the joints. Installing a steel support cable allows the limbs to move together but not apart which helps to stabilize these weak unions. If a cabled limb does fail, the cable is designed to hold the limb in the air to keep it from falling on anything under the tree. Although cables are not a guarantee, they greatly reduce the risk of damage to the trees as well as your property.

Some trees that begin to split apart can be saved with the use of cables and braces. Braces are steel rods installed through the splitting area and are used to pull the sides back together and help prevent further splitting.