Tree removal involves cutting apart a tree and moving the parts off your property to be hauled away. Any time a tree or large branch is dropped (such as when a tree is felled), it can cause tree removal damage to your lawn and landscape (or wherever else it lands). Mature trees can weigh thousands of pounds, and the force of the falling tree adds to its destructive power when it hits the ground.
Thankfully, cutting down a tree doesn’t have to result in ruts in your lawn, deep holes in the flower beds, or crushed shrubs. During professional tree removal (as opposed to DIY tree cutting, or hiring a landscaper or inexperienced tree cutter), the tree removal company will take several steps to mitigate potential tree removal damage to your yard and property.
In this article, we’ll go over ways you can ensure your lawn, landscape, and property remain undamaged during the tree removal process.
Does Tree Removal Damage Your Grass or Landscape?
In some cases, yes, tree removal can damage your lawn and landscape. Trees can damage your lawn when they fall or are damaged during storms, when they are removed using the wrong equipment or techniques, or when the ground is saturated (such as from rainwater or melting snow).
Fallen or Storm-Damaged Trees
Trees that have fallen, uprooted, split, or are damaged from storms or bad weather can often cause a lot of damage. They may fall on a building or fence, upend a sidewalk or driveway, or create large divots or holes in your lawn.
While proper pruning and watering can prevent some storm damage, there is really no way to prevent all damage to your property due to weather-related causes.
Removal Using the Wrong Equipment or Methods
If your tree is removed without the right equipment, there will likely be some damage to your landscape.
Trees may be felled (cut near the base and allowed to fall over), which can be dangerous and destructive when done by inexperienced tree cutters.
Without a grapple saw or crane to lift tree parts up and away, sections of the tree being removed are often lowered (or, sometimes, dropped) to the ground. This can easily damage the lawn or landscape where they land.
Tree Removal During Wet Weather
While it would be great if the weather were always a comfortable temperature and sunny, that’s not the case in Northern Virginia. We have to deal with the weather and the elements, which means we are often not working in ideal circumstances.
If the ground is saturated from recent rains or melting snow, your lawn may receive some damage. This is one of the instances where some damage is unavoidable, as the wet ground (and resulting mud) is easily moved or upturned from being walked on or driven over by heavy equipment.
We take every possible step to minimize the damage, but in these cases, there is only so much that can be done.
How to Prevent Damage to Your Property During Tree Removal
The chances of damage to your property, lawn, and landscape during tree removal largely depend on who is doing the work, the equipment they deploy, and the removal technique used. So what, if anything, can you do to prevent any issues?
Have the Tree Removed by Professionals. Don’t Attempt it Yourself!
Attempting to remove a tree on your own means a high risk of not only damaging your property but injuring yourself.
When it is time for a tree on your property to be removed, contact a professional company with the equipment, skills, and safety knowledge to keep your property intact and everyone involved injury-free.
Hire a Reputable Tree Removal Company
As you search for a tree care company to hire for your tree removal, check not only for positive reviews but also for certifications, insurance that covers tree removal, and proper tree removal equipment.
If someone lacks the skills or experience in removing trees – especially trees that are large, in a difficult location, or damaged – you may end up with a poorly executed tree removal and damage to your yard or property.
Other Things You Can Do
- Move outdoor furniture to a safe spot before work begins
- Clear your yard to remove any hazards and to prevent items from accidentally being damaged
- Keep pets and people indoors the entire time
- Realize that some damage may still occur due to weather, heavy trees, large equipment, and dangerous tools
- Decide if you would like the tree stump to be ground out after the tree is cut down or if you would like to leave it in place
How Green Vista Protects Your Property During Tree Removal
At Green Vista Tree Care, we have the equipment, knowledge, and experience to prevent damage to your property during the tree removal process, including:
Tree Cranes for Safety & Better Access
The use of tree cranes allows our crew to move large, heavy sections of a tree away from your lawn and property. It also allows us to safely access trees, even if they are in a difficult or hard-to-reach location.
Grapple Saw to Keep Tree Parts Off the Ground
Our state-of-the-art grapple saw can cut and move sections of a tree to remove it. Like the crane, it enables the Green Vista crew to remove your tree without harming anything around the area. Because there is no tree climber needed when using a grapple saw, we can remove trees that are damaged, brittle, and decaying more easily.
Alturna Mats to Minimize Lawn Damage From Heavy Equipment
We often need to use your property as a staging area for our equipment. Whether it’s a stabilized tree crane or smaller equipment like skidsteers that help us transport tree sections, we try to disturb your lawn as little as possible.
Some companies put down sections of plywood to try to prevent their vehicles from leaving tracks or tearing up your lawn. This is the cheaper option for a tree company but is not always effective. In contrast, we use a more advanced piece of equipment called Alturna mats. These mats help redistribute the weight of the equipment and prevent most damage that would otherwise occur.
Thorough Clean-up Procedures
The Green Vista Tree Care crew will always do their best to clean up after a tree has been cut down, ensuring all debris is hauled away from your property.
When we leave, the only evidence that we were there may be the remaining tree stump or the wood shavings left from the stump grinding.
Working Together Like a Well-Oiled Machine
You can see a great example of the Green Vista Tree Care crew working together using our skills and equipment to quickly and safely remove a tree section by section in this social media video post.
The post describes how the tree branches are removed, and the ground crew loads them into the woodchipper using a mini skid. The Vermeer BC1800xl chipper can process up to 18-inch pieces of wood and turn them into wood chips.
Our spider lift is used to cut the sections of the tree lower to the ground, and we utilize our Tree-Mek grapple saw crane to move logs over the home and onto the driveway, preventing the heavy logs from dropping onto the lawn.
Finally, the grapple truck is strategically placed to load all the wood for removal from the property.
A safe and efficient production from start to finish, with minimal ground impact.
Keep Your Lawn & Landscape Safe With Tree Removal by Green Vista
Contact us to schedule your tree removal project today.

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