Selective thinning and windowing that opens your view of Bellingham Bay, the San Juans or Mount Baker, and leaves a healthy tree in the frame instead of a row of stubs.
Views opened, never topped
Bellingham is built on hills that face the water. From South Hill, Edgemoor, Alabama Hill and the slopes above Fairhaven and Chuckanut, the view west to the bay and the islands is a big part of why people bought the house. From Sudden Valley and the north county it might be Mount Baker. And on almost every one of those lots, a Douglas fir, a cedar or a big-leaf maple has spent the last twenty years slowly closing the curtains.
The quick fix people reach for is topping: cut the tree off at the height of the view and be done with it. It works for a season or two. Then a topped maple throws up a thicket of fast, upright sprouts, a topped fir or cedar grows several competing tops, the view closes again, the cut tops start to rot, and the tree you used to look past becomes the tree you worry about in every windstorm. We do not top trees, for views or for any other reason.
View pruning works with the tree instead. We thin the crown so you see through it, open a window through the part of the canopy that sits in your sightline, lift the lower limbs so the view runs under the canopy, or shorten limbs back to strong side branches so the crown sits a little lower and stays natural. Done carefully and repeated every few years, it keeps a view open for a very long time, and the tree keeps shading the house and holding the hillside.
Selected branches removed throughout the crown so you look through the tree rather than at it. The outline stays the same, and done lightly the tree stays healthy. On a big fir this is often the most effective option.
A clear opening cut through the part of the crown that sits in your sightline, framed by the rest of the tree. Good when one tree blocks one specific stretch of water or mountain.
Lower limbs lifted so the view runs under the canopy, or long limbs shortened back to a strong side branch to bring a broadleaf crown down a little without leaving stubs. We do this on maples and other broadleaf trees. Conifers are thinned and raised, not cut down from the top.
We stand at the window or deck you actually look from, because a tree that seems to be in the way from the yard is often not the problem. Then we decide which trees and which parts of them are really blocking the view.
On bigger jobs we can mark the limbs we plan to take from the ground, so you can see the opening before it is made and adjust it with us.
If opening the whole view at once would mean taking too much living crown from one tree, we split the work over two or three seasons. You get part of the view now and the rest without a stressed, sprouting tree.
Debris from hillside lots carried up or chipped, not left to slide down the bank, and lawns, decks and beds raked clear.
Bay, islands, mountain, or a particular stretch of water. Send a photo from the window if you can, and one of the tree from the yard.
We look from inside, then from the yard, and work out whether the trees in the way are yours, your neighbour's, or both.
We talk through thinning, windowing and raising for each tree, and where it helps we flag the limbs so you can see the opening in advance.
What we will do this season, what we would leave for a later visit, and roughly how often the view will want touching up.
Thinning and clearance cuts made at the branch collar or back to strong side branches, with the climber checking the opening against your window as the work goes.
Before we pack up, we stand at the window with you. If one more limb would make the difference and the tree can spare it, we take it then.
We do not top trees, and that is not a sales line. A topped fir on a Bellingham hillside is a liability, and the view it gave you closes again faster than one opened by thinning.
We tell you what is possible. Sometimes the honest answer is that a view can be filtered beautifully but not fully opened without wrecking the tree. Sometimes it is that one tree really should come out and the rest can stay. You will hear that from us before any work starts.
We only cut trees with the owner's permission. If the trees in your view are on a neighbour's lot, we can talk with both of you and price a plan that suits both of you, but we will not cut a tree you do not own without the owner's written agreement.
And we check the ground rules first. Many view lots in and around Bellingham sit on steep slopes, near the shoreline or under neighbourhood agreements.
Before we quote on a slope, a bluff or a shoreline lot, we check what applies to your property and tell you plainly if anything needs a permit, a review or a neighbour's sign-off first.
Send us a photo from the window. We will come and stand where you stand and tell you how much of it we can give back.
We are only just starting to collect customer reviews. When we do, they will appear here in full, in our customers' own words.
It is not a formal standard, and people use the name for a few different rules of thumb. The common thread is an order of work: first the dead, damaged and diseased wood, then crossing and rubbing branches, then cuts for shape and clearance, and never too much living crown at once. For view work the last part matters most. We stage a big view opening over two or three seasons rather than taking it all in one go.
No. Topping leaves large wounds the tree cannot seal, so decay moves into the trunk. The tree answers with a dense crop of fast, upright sprouts that are weakly attached and heavy. Within a few years the tree is as tall as before, thicker in the crown and more likely to drop limbs. For a view it is the worst option, because the view closes again faster and denser.
Partly, sometimes, with years of corrective pruning. We can choose the strongest sprouts on a topped tree, thin out the rest and slowly rebuild a more natural crown. The decay that started at the topping cuts does not go away, though, and some topped trees end up needing removal. If a tree near your house was topped years ago, it is worth having someone look at the old cuts.
Often the tree survives in the short term, especially broadleaf trees like big-leaf maple that sprout readily. Survival is not the same as health. A topped tree is stressed, prone to decay and more dangerous than it was. A topped Douglas fir or cedar cannot regrow a proper leader and usually ends up with several weak competing tops. If the goal is a lower crown or a clearer view, thinning, raising and reduction get you there without those problems.
Washington takes cutting other people's trees seriously, and the rules about trees on or near a boundary are not simple. Our rule is simple: we only cut a tree with the owner's permission, and if a tree in your view belongs to a neighbour, we will want to hear from them before we touch it.
We prune for views across Whatcom County: Bellingham, Ferndale, Lynden, Blaine, Everson, Sudden Valley, Birch Bay, Sumas, Deming and Custer, plus the rural ground between them.
Deadwood out, crowns thinned, limbs cleared from roofs, houses and lines, every cut made where the tree can seal it off.
Laurel, arborvitae, holly and overgrown shrubs shaped, reduced or brought back from the brink.
Apple, pear, plum and cherry pruned for structure, light and a better crop, including the neglected old ones.
When a tree really has to go, taken down in sections where there is no room to drop it.
Broken limbs, hangers and trees down after a windstorm, made safe and cleared.
Stumps ground below grade, surface roots chased, chips cleaned up or left as mulch.
Overgrown lots and acreage cleared of alder, brush and small trees, including forestry mulching.
Himalayan blackberry, Scotch broom and invasive brush cut back and dealt with at the root.
Tell us which view you are trying to get back and roughly where the trees are. A photo from the window and one of the trees from the yard is ideal.
We will be in touch to set up a time to look at the tree. If it is urgent, call (360) 555-0137.
Nothing was sent. Please call (360) 555-0137 and we will set up your free estimate.