Tree Service in Gurnee, From the River to Hunt Club Road
Gurnee is really two different towns for a tree crew. East of the tollway, around Old Grand Avenue and down toward the Des Plaines River, the houses are older and the trees had a long head start. You see big silver maples, cottonwoods, box elders and willows, all trees that love wet ground. Plenty of them lean. Plenty of them hang over a roof or a garage.
West of I-94, out toward Hunt Club Road, it's mostly subdivisions. The lots are tidier and the trees are younger. Honey locust, maples, ornamental pears, a row of spruce along the back fence. Those neighborhoods were also planted heavy with ash, and most of that ash is dead or already gone.
Lakefront Tree Service is based in Libertyville, a short run down Milwaukee Avenue, so Gurnee is close to home for us. The crew is insured for tree work and covers the whole village, plus Wadsworth to the north.
Tree Removal in Gurnee
Most tree removal jobs here go one of two ways. On an open lot with room to work, the tree can come down in a few big pieces. On a tight lot near the river, with a house on one side and a fence on the other, it comes apart from the top, one section at a time, and each piece gets lowered on a rope. Same tree, very different day.
Dead ash is its own category. Emerald ash borer has killed most untreated ash across Lake County, and Gurnee's subdivisions had a lot of it. Dead ash gets brittle fast. The longer it stands, the harder it is to take down safely, so getting a dead ash out is a job to do sooner rather than later.
One thing we won't do is top a tree. Cutting the top flat ruins it and makes it more dangerous down the road. If a tree is too big for its spot, we'll tell you straight if trimming can fix it or if it needs to go.
Storm Damage and Emergency Tree Work in Gurnee
Ground near the river stays soft, and soft ground lets go of roots. After a hard wind, that's where whole trees tip over, root plate and all. Out west it's more often a split pear or a big maple limb across the driveway.
If a tree is on your house, on your car, or blocking the driveway, call (224) 944-8652. Don't text for that one. We handle storm calls as fast as the crew can get there. We can't promise a set time, because on a bad night everybody on the block is calling.
If the tree is touching or tangled in a power line, stay away from it and call ComEd first. That part is the power company's job. Once the line is safe, we cut up the rest and haul it off.
Tree Trimming and Pruning for Gurnee Homes
Most trees do best when they're trimmed dormant, late fall through winter. You can see the branch structure without the leaves, and the tree isn't spending energy on new growth. Dead, broken or hanging limbs are different. Those can come off any time of year.
Oaks have a hard rule. We don't prune them in the growing season, roughly spring through early fall, because fresh cuts draw the beetles that spread oak wilt. Winter is the safe window. Elms get the same treatment. A storm-broken limb is the one exception.
The usual trimming work around here looks like this:
- Pulling long silver maple limbs back off a roof or gutter
- Raising the low branches over a driveway, sidewalk or mower path
- Thinning out a crowded crown so more light reaches the lawn
- Taking out deadwood before it lands on the deck
- Cleaning up an ornamental pear after a limb splits out
Stump Grinding in Gurnee Yards
A stump left behind is a mower hazard and a spot that keeps sending up sprouts. Grinding it out takes it below the surface so you can lay sod or plant grass seed over the top. You're left with a pile of wood chips mixed with dirt. We can haul those away or leave them for your garden beds, your call.
Before any grinding, the underground utilities have to be marked. In Illinois that's a free call to JULIE at 811. It matters in the subdivisions especially, where gas, cable and electric often run through the same front yard the stump is sitting in.
You can add the stump to a removal, or have us grind an old one left from a tree somebody else cut. Just tell us which when you text.
Tree Removal Permits and Village Rules
Many Lake County villages have rules about trees, and some want a permit before a tree comes down, even on your own lot. Your village may require a permit, so check with village hall first. We don't guess at what the rule is, and you shouldn't either. One phone call settles it.
Also know whose tree it is. The strip between the sidewalk and the street is usually the village's to look after, not yours. And a tree sitting right on the lot line is one to talk over with your neighbor before anything gets cut.
What a Gurnee Tree Quote Looks Like
Text a photo of the tree, limb or stump to (224) 944-8652 and tell us you're in Gurnee. Small jobs get a written price right from the photos. Big removals get a free visit first, because nobody should price a large tree over a house from a picture.
The quote is free and it's one flat price for the whole job, agreed before any cutting starts. What that price is built on is pretty simple:
Then you pick a day. The crew does the work, rakes up, and hauls the brush and wood away. Illinois keeps yard waste out of landfills, so brush gets chipped and wood gets recycled. Want the wood for firewood? Say so and we'll leave it cut where you want it. We're out Monday through Saturday, 7am to 7pm, and Sunday by appointment.
- How big the tree is
- Where it stands: open yard, or over a roof, fence, garage or wires
- Its condition. Dead and brittle is harder than green and solid
- How easily equipment can reach it
- Whether the stump is part of the job
How We Handle Tree Jobs in Gurnee
- Free quotes from a photo, and a free visit for big removals
- Cleanup included: brush chipped, wood hauled, yard raked
- We don't top trees
- We'll tell you if a trim is enough before you pay for a removal
- Keep the firewood if you want it, cut and left where you say
