Two minutes, honest answer
Is my tree actually dangerous?
Tick what you can see. I'll tell you whether it needs dealing with today, soon, or not at all — and I'll say so plainly if it looks fine.
If any part of the tree is touching a power line, stop and ring your electric utility. Not me. A limb across a line can energise the whole tree and the ground around it. Everything else below assumes no lines are involved.
Tree risk check
What can you see?
Nobody can properly assess a tree through a web form. This is the same set of questions I'd ask you on the phone, and it gets you a straight answer about how fast it needs attention.
How this actually works
Proper tree risk assessment multiplies two things: how likely the tree is to fail, and what it would hit if it did. Most people only think about the first one, which is why a leaning tree in a paddock worries them and deadwood over the bedroom doesn't.
So the first question is what's underneath. The same tree can be an emergency or a non-issue depending on the answer.
What this won't do
It won't tell you a healthy tree is dangerous. If nothing here looks urgent I'll say so — I'd rather lose the job than have you cut down a good tree.
And it isn't an assessment. Decay inside a trunk doesn't show from the outside, and no web form sees that. This gets you a straight answer about urgency and tells you whether it's worth me looking properly.
If it's a neighbour's tree, this is worth reading too — in Texas the difference between an act of God and negligence is whether the owner knew the tree was dangerous.
Questions I get asked
How do I know if a tree is dangerous?
Look at three things: the trunk, the base, and what is underneath. A crack you can see into, a lean that appeared recently with soil lifting at the base, a large hollow, or a tree that is already dead are the serious signs. Then ask what it would hit. Deadwood over a bedroom matters far more than a leaning tree over an empty paddock — risk is how likely it is to fail multiplied by what it lands on.
Is a leaning tree dangerous?
Only if the lean is new. A tree that has leaned for years, with straight growth above the lean, has built its wood and roots around that load and is usually fine. What is genuinely urgent is a lean that appeared recently, especially with soil heaving or cracking on the opposite side of the base — that means the root plate is failing now.
What do mushrooms at the base of a tree mean?
Often root or butt rot, which matters because it is the part holding the tree up and you cannot see it. Shelf fungus or conks on the trunk or at the base is worth having looked at properly, even when the canopy still looks healthy — the crown is usually the last thing to show a root problem.
My tree lost limbs in a storm. Does it need removing?
Usually not. Live oaks in particular shed limbs and carry on for decades. Losing a limb is not the same as failing. What matters is whether the trunk is sound, whether anything is still hanging, and whether the root plate moved.
Can you tell if my tree is dangerous from a photo?
A lot of it, yes. Send a picture of the whole tree and one of the base where it meets the ground, with something in frame for scale. That answers most questions without anyone driving out. What a photo will not show is decay inside the trunk.
Not sure what you're looking at?
Send me a photo of the whole tree and one of the base. That answers most of it without anyone driving out.
Same-day callback on estimates
Call or text before 5pm on a weekday and you'll hear back from me the same day. Not an answering service — me.