Service Area

Old Trees, Careful Work in Abbeville

Abbeville's Court Square is the kind of town center people drive in just to see, with the opera house, brick storefronts and streets running out from the square lined with homes that have stood for generations. A good many of those houses come with trees just as old: oaks and pecans that were already large long before anyone living there now was born.

Trees like that call for slow, careful work. Greenwood Tree Pros takes on trimming and removal across Abbeville and the farm country around it, and in town most of our time goes into protecting what sits under the tree as much as the tree itself.

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Large old oak shading the front porch of a historic two-story house in Abbeville, South Carolina

What we are usually called out for

In the older parts of town, the most common job is an old oak with a problem. It might be deadwood in the upper crown, a heavy limb reaching over a porch roof, or a trunk that has started to decay where a big limb broke off years ago. Water oaks are the usual suspects, since they grow fast and age poorly, and by the time one is this size it often has rot inside that shows up only as a hollow sound or a fungus at the base.

Pecans are close behind. Old yard pecans drop limbs in summer storms and in ice, often on calm-looking days afterward. Out in Abbeville County the work shifts to loblolly pines near houses and barns, trees killed by beetles after a dry summer, and storm-thrown trees on fence lines. When a tree near a house has to go, taking one down in pieces is usually the safe way in a yard this full of things worth keeping.

How a visit goes

A visit starts with a slow walk around the tree and the house. On older properties we pay close attention to what is underneath: slate or metal roofs, wide porches, brick walks, old fences and narrow driveways that limit where a truck can park. We look at how the tree is put together, where the weight is, and whether any piece could be lowered safely or would need rigging off another limb.

Then we talk it through with you. Every tree job is priced after someone has walked the yard and looked up into the tree, with the price in writing before a saw starts. The written quote describes the plan, where equipment will go, and how the yard will look when we leave, so there are no surprises on a property you care about.

Trimming versus removal on an old tree

An old oak that is structurally sound is worth a lot to a house like these, and we would rather prune it than take it down. Removing deadwood, reducing a long limb and thinning the crown can take a great deal of risk out of a tree while keeping its shade and its look. If you want to read up before we come, Clemson Extension's tree care guidance covers how pruning affects a tree's health.

Removal is the answer when decay has gone too far into the trunk, the root zone has been badly damaged, or the tree is dead or dying. We will say plainly which way we lean and why. We make the same calls for homes up the road around Due West, where the college town has its own share of very old trees.

Services we bring out here

Start an Abbeville quote

Fill in your name and phone number, add your address if you would like, and use the message box to tell us about the tree: what kind it is, how big, what it shades or hangs over, and what worries you about it. A note like 'big oak in the front yard, dead limbs over the porch' is enough to plan the visit. We will call to set a time, and coming out to price the job is free.