Tree Trimming in Gates

Gates is a compact inner suburb directly west of Rochester, developed primarily in the 1950s through the 1970s with modest ranch and split-level homes on smaller lots. It's a dense, working-class suburb where trees are often closer to structures than homeowners realize until there's a problem. Being tight against the city means the tree canopy here blends right into Rochester's urban forest. There's a lot of deferred maintenance on trees in Gates.

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.