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Tree Trimming in Fresh Pond

Fresh Pond is on our list. It shares ZIP 95726 with Pollock Pines, and it's about three miles up Highway 50. Call (530) 248-6524 and a tree pro from the area can come see your trees, whether it's one old pine by the cabin or a whole slope of them.

A logging past

In the 1800s, says Wikipedia, Fresh Pond was a logging community with a sawmill and a Pony Express stop. The cafeteria that stood on the old town site burned down in the 1970s. People saved its wooden sign, and the spot is a trading post and gas stop now.

Why does that matter for your trees? Where a sawmill once ran, young forest grows back, and young stands tend to grow thick and close. That's general forest know-how, not a survey of your lot.

Thick stands are where limbing up and thinning help most. See limbing up pines for the spacing numbers the state gives.

3,606 feet, and real snow

The elevation here is 3,606 feet. That's a few hundred feet lower than Pollock Pines at 3,980, but it is plenty high for winter. Wikipedia notes that Fresh Pond gets snow, and that people sled and play in it each winter.

That has a side effect. In snow season, cars pull off along the road, and kids run around. A dead limb over a pull-off is a bigger problem than the same limb over a back field. If you own roadside land, take a look at those trees in October.

Stay out from under loaded trees, too. Iowa State's extension guide warns that people can be badly hurt when an ice-laden limb comes down, and says to stay away from big ice-laden trees.

What goes wrong with trees near the highway

• Road salt and sand can pile up where the plow throws it, and bark gets scraped.
• Utility lines run along the road. Branches that grow toward them need a qualified crew. Read about trimming near lines before you touch a saw.
• Heavy trucks shake the ground. Shallow roots on a hillside can slip.

Those three are general mountain-road know-how, not data from a study. A pro on site can tell you which ones apply to your lot.

Pitch tubes and old stumps

Old sawmill country often has stumps and slash piles hidden in the brush. Dead wood on the ground can hold beetles. UC's beetle note has two rules for wood: don't stack fresh, unseasoned logs near trees you want to keep, and don't carry firewood from one place to another.

If you clear brush, chip it or haul it off. UC says chipping or sealing infested wood under clear plastic works.

Prices

These are national figures from cost guides. Pine work is $200 to $1,800 on Fixr. Its 30 to 50 foot tree range is $150 to $800. A chipper added to the job is $50 to $100, says Thumbtack.

The pro looks at the slope, the road and the trees before quoting.

One more thing about the highway

Fresh Pond sits right on Highway 50. Wikipedia says the old cafeteria's wooden sign was preserved by later businesses. Plenty of traffic passes by on that road. If a tree by the road drops a limb, it could land on a car.

Nearby

Close by: Pollock Pines, Sly Park, Riverton. For a yearly plan in Fresh Pond, open the care-by-season table. Back to the Pollock Pines home page, or see the other towns near Fresh Pond.