Diversified Tree Company LLC is an owner-operated, Black-owned, family-focused arborist team working out of a yard on Paris Avenue in south Grand Rapids. Jason Lewis has been climbing and rigging here for over a decade, with 25+ years of combined crew experience behind him, and dead wooding is the quiet part of the job most homeowners never hear a name for — until a dry limb lets go over the driveway.
What dead wooding actually is
Dead wooding means going up into a living tree and taking out the branches that have already died, back to the collar, without cutting into healthy wood. A mature oak or maple sheds interior limbs naturally as the canopy shades itself out. Those limbs stay attached and get brittle. Then a thunderstorm off Lake Michigan arrives and they come down on a roof, a car, a fence, or somebody standing under them.
It is precision work, not volume work. We climb or use the bucket, identify what's genuinely dead versus what's just late to leaf out, and cut clean at the branch collar so the wound seals. We do not top trees. Topping creates weakly attached regrowth that fails in the next storm and shortens the life of the tree — that answer doesn't change no matter who asks.
- Removal of dead, hanging and broken limbs throughout the canopy
- Storm-risk reduction on large trees near structures
- Rigging for limbs that can't simply be dropped
- All brush chipped and hauled, the ground raked before we leave
If the whole tree is gone — no leaf flush, bark sloughing, fungal brackets at the base — dead wooding isn't the right call. That's a dead tree removal, and we'll say so at the estimate rather than sell you a trim that buys nothing.
When to dead wood a Michigan tree
Late winter, February into March, is the best window for most species. The canopy is open, the structure is readable, and the tree has the whole growing season ahead to respond. Oaks are the strict one: prune them only in dormancy, because fresh cuts in the warm months invite the beetles that spread oak wilt. It's the single most common mistake we get called out to clean up after.
That said, dead limbs hanging over a house are a safety issue, not a scheduling preference. Hangers get taken down when we find them, whatever the month.
Glad I waited for the right professional. Jason was very careful in his approach with my fallen after the storm. If not for him I would have definitely damaged my roof. Very happy
Nine services, one crew
Dead wooding sits inside our trimming and pruning work. The same crew handles the rest, so you're not coordinating three companies around one tree:
- Tree Removal — hazardous, diseased, dead or oversized trees, including large removals near structures
- Stump Grinding — ground 6–12 inches below grade, chips backfilled, replant-ready
- Emergency Tree Service — storm response with insurance-claim documentation
- Lot Clearing — full or partial, with selective keeps flagged and root zones protected
- Bracing & Cabling — structural support for valuable, split-prone trees
- Firewood — seasoned hardwood, pickup at the Paris Ave yard or delivered
- Snow Plowing — residential and commercial driveways, lots and walkways
- Curbside Leaf Pickup — rake to the curb in loose piles and we haul it away
Jason answers the phone at 3 a.m.
We're open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and that isn't a marketing line — the phone gets answered at 3 a.m. on Christmas. From the Paris Ave SE yard most of the metro is inside 20 minutes in normal conditions, covering Grand Rapids, Wyoming, Grandville, Byron Center, Caledonia, Moline, Jenison, Hudsonville, Dorr, Ada, Wayland, Alto, Marne and Comstock Park. We're BBB accredited and rated 5 out of 5 from 13 reviews, residential and commercial alike.
Estimates are free and we'll respond within one business day. Walk the property with Jason, point at what worries you, and get a straight answer about whether it needs pruning, support, or removal. Call (616) 407-0044.