Half the calls we get about a sick tree start the same way: brown leaves in August, mushrooms at the base, bark coming off in sheets, or one big limb that died while the rest of the tree looks fine. People want to know whether it can be saved, and whether it's about to land on something. Those are two different questions, and we'll give you an honest answer to both before anybody quotes you a dollar figure.
Straight answer: we don't inject or spray trees
If you're looking for tree disease treatment in the chemical sense — fungicide injections, systemic pesticide programs, soil drenches — that isn't a service Diversified Tree Company sells, and we'd rather say so on this page than waste your afternoon. We're a climbing and removal crew: Tree Removal, Tree Trimming & Pruning, Stump Grinding, Emergency Tree Service, Lot Clearing, Bracing & Cabling, Firewood, Snow Plowing, and Curbside Leaf Pickup. Nine services, one crew, and nothing we're pretending to be good at.
What we do bring is judgment. Jason Lewis has been doing this in Grand Rapids for over ten years, with 25+ years of combined experience across the crew, and a lot of that time has been spent looking at trees that somebody else already gave up on — or trees a salesman wanted to cut down that didn't need cutting.
How a sick tree actually gets handled
Once we've walked the tree with you, there are usually three honest paths forward, and they all fall inside what we do.
- Prune it and watch it. Deadwood comes out, the canopy gets cleaned up, weight comes off the limbs hanging over your roofline, and the tree gets a real chance. Plenty of trees that look finished are just carrying a load of dead branches.
- Brace and cable it. When the problem is a split-prone union or a co-dominant leader rather than decay, a structural support system can keep a valuable tree standing instead of hauling it away in pieces.
- Take it down. When there's decay at the base, a hollow trunk, or root damage, the tree is a hazard and pretending otherwise is how roofs get crushed. We do large removals near structures using rigging, so nothing falls where it shouldn't.
- Grind the stump. A rotting stump is pest habitat. We grind 6 to 12 inches below grade, haul the chips, and leave the spot ready to replant or sod. Deeper on request.
And the wood is yours if you want it. We'll buck the trunk to firewood length and stack it wherever you point at no extra charge, or haul it off — your call.
Oak wilt is why we won't prune your oak in July
West Michigan has oak wilt, and the single most useful thing a tree service can do about it is know when to keep the saw in the truck. Oaks should only be pruned in dormancy. For most other species around here, late winter — February and March — is the right window. If you call us in June about an oak and it isn't a hazard or a storm emergency, we'll tell you to wait, and we'll tell you why. We also won't top a tree, ever. Topping creates weakly-attached regrowth that fails in the next storm and shortens the tree's life.
And no honest arborist guarantees a tree. Cabling dramatically reduces the risk of a union failure; it doesn't make a tree immortal. Anybody promising otherwise is selling something.
Jason answers the phone at 3 a.m.
We're an owner-operated, Black-owned, family-focused business working out of our yard on Paris Avenue SE in south Grand Rapids, which puts most of the metro inside about 20 minutes in normal conditions — Wyoming, Grandville, Byron Center, Caledonia, Jenison, Hudsonville, Ada, Comstock Park and the rest. The phone is answered around the clock, holidays included, and storm response is a core service here, not an upsell. Estimates are free and you'll hear back within one business day.
We're a BBB accredited business rated 5 out of 5 from 13 reviews. Here's one of them:
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.
If a tree on your property has you worried, have us look at it before the next windstorm decides for you. Call (616) 407-0044 and we'll come out, tell you what we actually see, and put it in writing.