tree service northbrook il, tree service highland park il

There is a certain kind of homeowner who looks at a leaning branch and thinks, "I can handle that." We get it. You have a ladder. You have a saw. Maybe you have watched a few YouTube videos. And honestly, for a lot of home projects, that kind of initiative is great.

Tree work is not one of those projects.

The trees on properties across Northbrook and Highland Park, IL, are some of the most valuable landscape features you will find anywhere on the North Shore. Mature oaks. Towering elms. Old-growth maples have been shading front yards for decades. These are not the kind of things you want to experiment on with a chainsaw and a weekend free.

At Joe & Tony Landscaping, tree service is one of the most common calls we get. And more often than you would think, that call comes after a homeowner already tried to take care of it themselves.

So let's talk about why that almost never works out and what professional tree care actually involves.

The Safety Problem Is Real

This is the most obvious reason to leave tree work to the pros, and also the one people are most likely to brush off. Everyone thinks they will be careful. Nobody plans on falling off a ladder or dropping a branch on the roof.

But here is the reality. Tree work consistently ranks among the most dangerous tasks in residential property care. And heights are only part of the equation. You are also dealing with:

Unpredictable weight distribution in branches (that limb you think weighs 40 pounds? It might be closer to 200)
Power lines that may be closer than you realize
Wood that does not always fall in the direction you expect
Trunks that look solid on the outside but are rotted through the center

Our crews are trained in strategic safety procedures for exactly these kinds of situations. They know how to read the structure of a tree before they make a single cut. They have the equipment to work at height safely. And they know how to control where every piece of wood goes on the way down.

You might save a few hundred dollars doing it yourself. But the risk is not worth it. Not when the alternative is a team that does this every single day.

You Might Not Know What You Are Looking At

Here is something a lot of homeowners do not realize. The tree you think needs to be trimmed might actually need to be treated. The tree you think needs to come down might just need some targeted pruning. And the tree that looks perfectly healthy from the ground? It might have a serious structural issue that is invisible to the untrained eye.

This is why every single tree service job we take on at Joe & Tony starts with a health and structural evaluation. No exceptions. No skipping ahead.

Before we trim a single branch, we look at the whole picture:

The canopy (is it thinning, lopsided, or showing signs of dieback?)
The trunk (cracks, cavities, fungal growth, bark damage?)
The root zone (heaving, soil erosion, signs of decay?)
The surrounding environment (proximity to structures, other trees, utilities?)

Without that evaluation, you are just guessing. And guessing is how healthy trees get cut down and sick trees get ignored.

Here is the thing we are most proud of, though. We will never recommend more work than what is actually needed. If a tree just needs to be pruned, that is what we will tell you. If it needs to come down, we will explain why. And if there is an underlying issue like a disease or an insect infestation, we will walk you through what that means and what your options are.

That honesty is a big deal to us. It is one of the reasons homeowners across Northbrook and Highland Park keep calling us back.

Timing Matters More Than You Think

One of the biggest mistakes homeowners make with tree care is doing the right thing at the wrong time. And on the North Shore, timing is everything.

Our climate hits trees hard from multiple directions:

Heavy ice and snow loads in winter
Saturated clay soils in spring
Heat stress and drought in summer
Big temperature swings through fall

Each of these seasons presents different risks. The tree care that makes sense in October might be the worst possible move in June.

Here is a good example. Most deciduous trees do best with structural pruning in late fall or winter when they are dormant. This is when it is easiest to see the branch structure and least likely to stress the tree. But certain species have their own rules:

Oaks should not be pruned between April and October. Fresh wounds attract the beetles that spread oak wilt, a fungal disease present in every county in Illinois that can kill a red oak within weeks.
Elms are safest to prune in late fall to minimize exposure to Dutch elm disease, which is still active in our area.
Maples are best pruned in late winter before the sap starts running, you get heavy sap bleeding from the cuts.

A homeowner with a saw does not know this. A professional tree service does.

The North Shore Has Specific Tree Threats

The trees in Northbrook, IL, and Highland Park, IL, are not just dealing with normal wear and tear. There are several well-documented pests and diseases in our area that require specific knowledge to identify and treat. And if you do not know what to look for, you will not see these problems until they are much harder to fix.

Here are the big ones:

Emerald Ash Borer. This invasive beetle has devastated ash tree populations across the Midwest, and northeastern Illinois is no exception. The larvae bore tunnels beneath the bark, cutting off the tree's ability to transport water and nutrients. By the time you notice the canopy thinning or the bark splitting, the damage is often advanced.

Early identification and treatment can save an ash tree. Waiting until it is obvious usually means removal.

Oak Wilt. This is a serious fungal disease that affects all oak species, with red oaks being the most vulnerable. It spreads two ways:

Through root grafts between nearby trees
Through beetles that carry the fungus to fresh wounds

Once a red oak is infected, it can wilt and die within a matter of weeks. Prevention is the best strategy, and that means understanding when and how to prune oaks safely.

Dutch Elm Disease. This fungal disease has been around for decades, but it has not gone away. It is spread by elm bark beetles and through root connections between neighboring elms. Infected trees show wilting and yellowing leaves, often starting on one side of the canopy. Treatment is possible if caught early. Once it progresses, removal is the only option.

Anthracnose. This fungal disease affects many common North Shore species, including ash, oak, sycamore, maple, and birch. It causes dark, irregular spots on leaves and can lead to defoliation, especially in cool, wet springs. While anthracnose alone is rarely fatal, repeated seasons of infection weaken a tree and make it more susceptible to other problems down the road.

Verticillium Wilt. Another fungal issue that targets maples, ash, and several other species commonly found in Northbrook and Highland Park yards. It attacks through the root system and disrupts the tree's vascular tissue, causing branch dieback that often shows up on one side of the canopy first.

Here is the part that really matters: in some cases, a well-intentioned DIY approach, like pruning an oak in July, can actually be the thing that introduces the disease in the first place.

Improper Pruning Causes Long-Term Damage

Even if safety were not a concern and even if timing were not a factor, there is still the issue of technique. Bad pruning does real, lasting harm to trees. And we see the evidence of it all the time.

The three most common DIY pruning mistakes:

Topping. This is when someone cuts the main branches back to stubs because they think it will reduce risk or keep the tree smaller. What it actually does is trigger a stress response that produces weak, fast-growing shoots. Those shoots are far more likely to break in a storm than the original branches were. So the tree ends up more dangerous, not less.
Flush cuts. This is when the branch is cut right against the trunk, removing the branch collar (that slightly swollen area where the branch meets the trunk). That collar is what allows the tree to seal the wound. Cut it off, and you are leaving an open wound that takes longer to heal and is more vulnerable to disease and decay.
Lion tailing. This is when interior branches are stripped out, leaving only foliage at the tips. It shifts the weight distribution outward and makes limbs more likely to snap in wind or under ice loads. It also removes the interior growth that helps buffer the tree against storms.

Professional pruning is not just about making cuts. It is about understanding the biology of the tree and working with it rather than against it. That is a big difference.

Tree Removal Is Not as Simple as Cutting It Down

When a tree does need to come down, the complexity goes up significantly. Especially in neighborhoods like Northbrook and Highland Park, where homes are close together, driveways are tight, and there are usually other trees, fences, utility lines, and landscape features in close proximity.

Taking down a large tree safely requires planning. Before a single saw is turned on, our crew is asking questions like:

Where is the natural lean?
Where are the power lines?
What is the drop zone, and what is in it?
Can the whole tree come down at once, or does it need to come apart in sections from the top?
Is there enough room for equipment, or does the crew need to climb?

These are the kinds of questions a DIY approach does not even think to ask until something goes wrong.

And then there is what happens after the tree is down. Root excavation is another piece that homeowners often underestimate. Depending on the size and species, the root system underground can continue to cause problems with sidewalks, foundations, drainage, and new plantings if it is not properly dealt with.

Tree Care Is Part of the Bigger Landscape Picture

One of the advantages of working with a full-service landscape company for your tree service is that we see your trees in context. We are not just looking at a single tree in isolation. We are looking at how it relates to everything around it.

Think about it:

A tree that is too dense might be blocking sunlight from reaching your garden beds
A root system that is spreading aggressively might be compromising your patio or walkway
A tree that was planted too close to the house might need to be managed differently from one in the middle of the yard
Canopy coverage affects how your lawn grows, where water drains, and how your outdoor living space feels

When we handle your tree care, we are thinking about all of these connections. That is what you get from a team that manages landscapes as a whole rather than one that only shows up for tree work.

Let us take a look.

Why Tree Service in Northbrook and Highland Park, IL, Is Not a DIY Job