Jason Lewis has spent more than a decade climbing, rigging and reading trees in south Grand Rapids, and the first thing he'll tell you is that most homeowners call about the wrong tree. The leaning one everybody points at is often fine. The quiet maple behind the garage with a split union and a hollow at the base is the one that comes through a roof in a July thunderstorm. A tree health assessment is how we sort out which is which before the weather does it for us.
Diversified Tree Company LLC is an owner-operated, Black-owned, family-focused arborist team working out of a yard on Paris Avenue SE, with behind every opinion we give you. Assessments are part of our free estimates — we don't bill for a walk-around, and we don't need you to commit to anything to get one.
What Jason actually looks at when he walks your yard
An assessment is a physical inspection, not a sales pitch with a clipboard. We start at the ground and work up, because the roots and the trunk tell you more than the leaves do.
- Root flare and base — heaving soil, exposed roots, cavities, mushrooms or conks at the collar, or a trunk that goes into the ground like a telephone pole instead of flaring out.
- Trunk and unions — included bark, splitting V-crotches, seams, old topping wounds and decay pockets. Co-dominant stems are what we brace and cable most often.
- Canopy — deadwood, hangers left over from the last storm, thinning at the top, and limbs that have grown out over a roofline or into service lines.
- Lean and load — which way it goes if it goes, what's under it, and whether the soil on the tension side has moved.
- Species and season — oaks get treated differently than maples, and what we recommend in August is not what we'd recommend in February.
Save it or remove it — the honest call
We'd rather keep a good tree standing. A valuable, split-prone tree with a sound trunk is usually a candidate for a structural support system — cabling and bracing that takes the load off a weak union. No honest arborist guarantees a tree, and we won't either. Support dramatically reduces the risk of union failure; it doesn't make a tree immortal. But it's a real alternative to losing a century maple you've had shade under for thirty years.
Sometimes the answer is pruning: clearance from the roofline, deadwood out, storm risk reduced. We will not top a tree, no matter who asks. Topping creates weakly-attached regrowth that fails in storms and shortens the life of the tree. And sometimes the honest answer is tree removal — a hazardous, diseased or dead trunk over a structure comes down with rigging, and we'll say so plainly instead of selling you a cable that won't hold it.
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
That's one of the reviews behind our 5 out of 5 from 13 reviewsand it's the reason we assess before we quote. Careful approach is the whole job.
Nine services, one crew
An assessment ends with a recommendation from a short, fixed list — the nine things we actually do, all with our own crew and equipment:
- Tree Removal — hazardous, diseased, dead or oversized trees, including large removals near structures
- Stump Grinding — ground 6–12 inches below grade, chips hauled or backfilled, spot left replant-ready
- Emergency Tree Service — 24/7 storm response with insurance-claim documentation
- Lot Clearing — full-lot or selective, with keeps flagged and root zones protected from equipment
- Bracing & Cabling — structural support for valuable, split-prone trees
- Firewood — seasoned hardwood, pickup at our 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 a BBB accredited business, open Monday through Sunday, 24 hours, and that's not a marketing line — the phone gets answered at 3 a.m. on Christmas. From the Paris Ave SE yard, most of the metro is within 20 minutes in normal conditions: Grand Rapids, Wyoming, Grandville, Byron Center, Caledonia, Moline, Jenison, Hudsonville, Dorr, Ada, Wayland, Alto, Marne and Comstock Park. For non-emergency assessments, you'll hear back within one business day.
Call (616) 407-0044 or email thegreatestwoodchucker@gmail.com to have Jason look at the tree that's been bothering you. The walk-around and the estimate are free.