Boulder, CO Tree Services
The City of Boulder and the greater Boulder County region are home to a wide variety of trees. These include native forests and groves characteristic of Colorado, as well as planted conifers introduced in later years. Additionally, the area features a diverse array of non-native deciduous trees, many of which were brought by early settlers and continue to be introduced to Colorado today. Given the rich diversity of interconnected ecosystems we serve, we take a dynamic and holistic approach to tree and forest health, customer satisfaction, and defensible space. Our work blends expert knowledge, keen observation, and a deep commitment to fostering strong relationships with both the environment and our customers.
Because of its geographical location, the heavy snowfall and high winds in Boulder, CO leave trees susceptible to major breaks. This creates high-stress for Boulder homeowners as trees can cause damage to homes and structures. Because of this, trees in this area greatly benefit from regular pruning.
In addition to weather impacts on Boulder-area trees, natural disasters such as wIldfires have ravaged the front range of Colorado. Creating defensible space from wildfires, especially in the foothills and west Boulder is a top priority for homeowners and organizations working for the protection of Boulder and beyond. Please see our fire mitigation page to learn more about Wildfire Partners and the financial assistance they offer to homeowners in creating defensible space.
Our View on Emerald Ash Borer Beetle (EAB):
The Emerald Ash Borer is an invasive beetle from Asia that is killing ash trees native to the Americas. While EAB is likely to be fatal to the trees it infests, we have observed well-cared for trees showing more resistance to infestation. The levels of infestation are much lower than predicted in our area. This is likely due, in part, to preventative treatments but we believe the environmental differences between the front range of Colorado and the eastern states that ash trees are native to is also a contributing factor.
The industry standard for management of EAB is to inject all ash trees bi annually with pesticides that are known to be highly toxic to pollinators and aquatic life. This approach leads us to examine the moral implications of reacting with fear instead of accountability. While we love trees and appreciate all of the benefits we reap from our ash trees, we must ask ourselves if it is morally to use pesticides known to be toxic to pollinators to preemptively control insect infestations? Especially those caused by human negligence, since the EAB was introduced to the Americas by people, not migration.
Would it be reasonable to allow nature to take its course and the potential for evolution to play out in real time? We recommend that our customers refrain from injecting their ash trees, have us prune them, take pictures post pruning to accurately monitor their health, keep a close eye on the upper canopy watching for dieback in the upper ⅓ of the tree, and call us if they see dieback. If dieback is occurring we will come back and climb your tree to inspect for EAB for free. If we find evidence of EAB we can discuss doing an injection at that time. We also recommend that customers feeling nervous about EAB, take the initiative to plant more trees – ideally of varying species.