What Island Lake Yards and Trees Are Like
The village wraps around the lake it's named for, and it sits on both sides of the Lake and McHenry county line. Route 176 runs through town. Streets near the water curve and dead-end, and the lots are modest. Many of the houses by the lake began as summer places and were turned into year-round homes later.
What's growing: oaks that were here before the cottages, silver maples and box elders that seeded in on their own, willows and cottonwoods at the shoreline, and spruce planted along property lines. Ash too, though most of it is dead now from emerald ash borer.
Lakefront Tree Service works Island Lake from our base in Libertyville. The crew is insured for the work it does. We cover the neighbors as well, including Wauconda to the east and Port Barrington down on the Fox River.
Tree Trimming and Pruning in Island Lake
On a small lot, trimming does a lot of the work that removal would do on a bigger one. You may not need to lose the oak. You may just need the two limbs over the roof shortened, the deadwood cleaned out, and the low branches lifted so some light gets to the grass.
We cut back to a branch or to the trunk so the tree can close over the wound. No stubs and no flat tops. Topping is bad practice and we won't do it, even to open up a view of the water.
Schedule it for the dormant months if you can. Late fall through winter suits most trees, and for oaks it isn't optional. Pruning an oak in the growing season risks oak wilt, since the beetles that carry it go straight to fresh cuts. Read more about trimming and pruning.
Island Lake Tree Removal on Tight Lots
Here's what makes a removal hard in Island Lake: no drop zone. House on one side, the neighbor's garage on the other, a fence, a shed, and maybe the service wire running to the house. So the tree gets taken apart in the air. A climber works from the top, cuts a piece, and it's roped down to the ground crew. Then the next piece.
Access is the second thing. If the only way to the backyard is a narrow side yard, everything gets carried or dragged out by hand. It's all doable. It just takes longer, and that shows up in the price. For the biggest ones, see removing a large tree.
A dead tree moves up the list. Dead wood is brittle, and brittle wood is harder to climb and rig. Don't sit on a dead ash for another year. Our page on dead tree removal explains why waiting makes it worse.
Storm Damage Cleanup and Fallen Trees
Old silver maples and willows are the usual storm casualties. They grow fast, the wood is soft, and a strong wind finds the weak fork.
If one lands on the house, on a car or across your driveway, call us at (224) 944-8652 right then. Don't text. We get to storm calls as fast as the crew can, with no promises on the clock. If it's in the power lines, that's ComEd's to deal with first. Stay clear.
For everything else, a text with photos works. We'll cut it up, drag it out and haul it. More on getting a fallen tree out.
Cleanup and Hauling After Island Lake Tree Jobs
Cleanup is part of the job and part of the price. We don't cut the tree and leave you a pile at the curb. Brush gets chipped. Logs get hauled. The lawn and the driveway get raked up before we pull out, and so does anything that landed on the neighbor's side of the fence.
Illinois keeps yard waste out of landfills, so what we take is chipped or recycled as wood. If you heat with wood or just like a fire by the lake, say so before we start. We'll leave the wood cut and set where you want it.
Stump Grinding for Island Lake Yards
When yard space is short, a stump is hard to ignore. Grinding takes it below ground level so you can cover the spot with soil and grow grass, or at least get the mower over it.
Two things first. Utilities have to be marked, and that's a free call to JULIE at 811. And we need a path to the stump, so tell us about gates, steps or a steep bank.
Have an old one from years back? Text a photo. Grinding out a stump is quoted the same way as any other job.
How Pricing Works for Tree Service in Island Lake
Send a picture and say you're in Island Lake. A written price follows. For a small job the picture is enough. A large removal gets looked at in person, free. You choose a day, and the crew does the work.
It's one flat price, set before cutting. It's based on the tree's size, where it's standing, whether it's dead and brittle, how we get to it, and whether you want the stump ground. Our pricing explainer has more, without dollar figures, since every tree is different.
Work days are Monday to Saturday, 7am until 7pm. Ask about a Sunday and we'll set an appointment.
Tree Removal Permits: Ask the Village First
Lots of Lake County villages regulate tree removal, and some require a permit even on private property. Whether yours does, and for which trees, is a question for village hall. Call them before you book. We'd rather wait a week than have you find out afterward. If your part of town has a property owners association, check with them too.
What You Get With Tree Work in Island Lake
- Keep the firewood if you want it, cut and left where you say
- Open Monday through Saturday, 7am to 7pm, and Sunday by appointment
- The crew is insured for tree work
- One flat price in writing, agreed before any cutting
- Free quotes from a photo, and a free visit for big removals
