Arborist Services in Harahan, LA

Some trees give you an easy answer. Others sit in the gray area: a few dead branches, a soft spot at the base, a lean you can’t decide about. Arborist services in Harahan are for that second group, when you want someone to look closely at a tree before you spend money trimming it or taking it down.

Big Easy Tree Removal looks at trees across Harahan, from Jefferson Hwy down to the streets near the Mississippi River, in a city that grew up around the Illinois Central railroad. You’ll find the rest of what we do in town on our tree service in Harahan page.

What a visit covers

An arborist visit centers on one question: can this tree stay, and if so, what does it need? To get there, the tree gets checked from the roots up.

• Root flare and soil. Heaving soil, cut or crushed roots, and fungus near the base can all point to trouble below ground.
• Trunk. Cracks, cavities, seams and soft wood. Tapping the trunk can reveal hollow sections that look solid from outside.
• Crown. Dead limbs, thinning leaves and branches that have grown with weak, tight unions.
• Targets. What the tree could hit if a limb or the whole trunk failed: the house, the driveway, a play set, a neighbor’s roof.

From there you get a plain recommendation. That might be a pruning plan to take weight off a heavy side, cabling or bracing through our tree support systems work, a watch-and-wait plan, or removal when the tree can’t be kept safely. You get the options and the reasons behind each, in writing, with a free estimate.

Formosan termites in live trees

Termites get talked about as a house problem. In South Louisiana they can be a tree problem too. LSU AgCenter says that “the Formosan subterranean termite infests the wood of live trees,” and adds that “weakened trees are susceptible to being blown over in high winds.”

That second point is why termite damage deserves attention in a river-edge city like Harahan, where hurricanes are a regular concern. The trouble is that the damage can sit inside the trunk, so a tree may leaf out normally while its core is being eaten. Mud tubes on the bark, winged termites near the trunk, or a hollow sound when the trunk is tapped are worth mentioning when you call.

Not every infested tree has to come down. Depending on how much sound wood is left, a tree may be a candidate for treatment and pruning. Our termite treatments page explains that side of the work. If the trunk is badly hollowed and the tree leans toward the house, removal may be the safer call, and our page on tree removal in Harahan explains how that’s handled.

Louisiana’s arborist license and how to check one

If you searched for a licensed arborist in Harahan, it helps to know how the state license works. The Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry (LDAF) says that “arborist licenses are required if you work on trees for a fee.” Under state law, Revised Statutes 3:3808, the arborist license covers work that includes removing a tree or part of one, and a separate utility arborist license covers work in utility rights-of-way.

Before you hire anyone for paid tree work, it’s reasonable to ask for their LDAF license number and check it on the