Tree Service in Madison, WI

Tree Service in Madison starts with a property-line question. The city's Urban Forestry section plants, prunes and cares for roughly 100,000 trees along Madison streets, and everything behind that strip is the owner's to look after. The public right-of-way usually runs between the sidewalk and the curb, and the city notes it can reach about 10 to 13 feet back from the street where there is no sidewalk. So before anyone climbs, we confirm whose tree it is. If it is a terrace tree, the city handles it. If it is yours, we can give you a written estimate for whatever it needs.

The oak rule most people have not heard of

Madison requires a permit for work on any oak between April 1 and October 15, and the city states plainly that this includes oaks on private property. The permit is free and is issued through the Urban Forestry office under MGO 23.40(7). The reason is oak wilt: the Wisconsin DNR explains that sap beetles carry the fungus to fresh wounds within minutes during spring and early summer. Red, black and pin oaks can die within weeks once infected. In practice we schedule routine oak pruning for the dormant months and treat warm-season oak work as an exception that needs the permit first.

Ash, spongy moth and the trees left behind

Emerald ash borer was confirmed in Madison in late 2013 in an ash near Warner Park. The city treats about 10,000 public ash on a rotating injection cycle, and it warns that EAB is fatal to an untreated ash. Private ash are a separate decision: treat a healthy, valuable tree, or remove it before it turns brittle. Dead ash become dangerous to climb, which is why waiting tends to raise the cost of removal. In 2023 a spongy moth outbreak, helped along by drought, stripped oaks across parts of the west side; the city oiled egg masses near Whitney Way and Mineral Point Road and injected oaks in spring 2024. If your oaks were defoliated two years running, they deserve a look for dieback.

What Madison jobs usually involve

• Crown thinning and clearance pruning on mature oaks and maples over older Isthmus and near-east-side homes
• Removal of dead or declining private ash, often in tight backyards between garages
• Raising limbs over driveways and alleys so trucks and snowplows clear them
• Stump grinding after removals, so a lawn or garden bed can go back in
• Storm cleanup when a private limb lands on a roof, fence or car
• Pruning back from the service drop that runs from the pole to your house

Brush: who hauls what

The city's curbside brush program gives each address five set-out dates a year, for branches 18 inches to 8 feet long and under 8 inches across. That program is for homeowner brush. When a contractor does the work, the city says the contractor must haul the brush away, and since July 14, 2025 the brush processing center no longer takes contractor loads. Our written quotes spell out chipping and hauling so there is no pile left on your terrace.

Power lines

MGE prunes around its lines on a cycle of every four to five growing seasons and asks residents not to cut branches touching wires themselves. If a tree you want removed is near MGE lines, the utility suggests contacting a residential tree contractor first; we coordinate with MGE when a line needs to be dropped or covered before cutting.

Tell us the address and what the tree is doing. Call (608) 820-8710 any time to leave details, or send the form, and we will set up a free on-site estimate. Get a free estimate