“Big elm came down across my back lane after the spring storm. He came same day, took it down piece by piece so nothing hit the fence. Cleaned up every chip. Professional.”
“My ash was dying from the top down. He explained what was happening, pruned the live wood, and told me straight whether it would make it. That honesty is worth more than a sales pitch.”
“Stump was right by the garage. His grinder made short work of it. No mess, no fuss. He even took the grindings away. Called him back for two more.”
“My caragana hedge was overgrown and wild. He shaped it clean, hauled the trimmings, and it looks like new. Knows exactly how to handle these old hedges.”
Emerald Ash Borer Treatment in St. Boniface
St. Boniface is home to some of Winnipeg's oldest residential streets, lined with massive American elms and green ash trees that have stood for generations. The neighbourhood's brick and frame houses, many over a century old, sit beneath this mature canopy, and the back lanes and tight property lines mean I have to plan my approach carefully. When the emerald ash borer showed up, it arrived in a landscape already stressed by Dutch elm disease. Now both threats are working through the neighbourhood's ash stock, and I see the damage almost every week.
If your ash is thinning from the top down, if you spot D-shaped exit holes in the bark, or if woodpeckers are hammering the trunk, that is the borer at work. I climb the tree myself and assess whether treatment makes sense or whether removal is the safer choice. Treatment can work on younger trees with good vigour, but once the borer has girdled too much of the wood, climbing becomes risky and the tree is better taken down while the wood is still sound and I can work safely in it. I will tell you honestly which path makes sense for your tree. Do not plant another ash after removal; the borer will find it eventually, and St. Boniface has plenty of other species that thrive here without that risk.
I charge nothing to come out and look at your ash. Call me at (431) 444-5195 for a free estimate and an honest answer about what your tree needs.
Wood Chipping in St. Boniface
St. Boniface is home turf for me. The neighbourhood has character: century-old brick and frame houses standing under enormous American elms, with mature ash and Manitoba maples lining the streets and rear lanes. When I cut branches or fell a tree on these properties, I chip everything right there on site. That means no extra truck trips, no mess left behind, and the chips stay where they belong, in your garden beds or composted on your property. If you have already done your own cutting and you are left with a pile of brush, I will come out just for that. Most species, ash, maple, birch, basswood, chip cleanly, and the material is yours to keep.
The one exception is elm. Because of Dutch elm disease regulations here in Manitoba, elm wood cannot be stored on residential property. When I chip elm, those chips leave with me and go to an approved facility for proper disposal. I handle that part; you do not have to think about it. I check the local rules for your address before I start, so there are no surprises. The elm pruning ban runs from April through July, which shapes the timing of any elm work I do on these older streets.
If you have a pile of brush or branches and you want a free estimate, tell me roughly how big it is. Call me at (431) 444-5195 and I will give you a straight answer on what the job costs and when I can get to it.
Dutch Elm Disease in St. Boniface
St. Boniface is elm country. The neighbourhood's brick and frame houses, many over a century old, sit beneath enormous American elms that line the streets and rear lanes. Those trees are part of the fabric here, but they are also at risk. Dutch elm disease moves fast in a mature canopy, and I have been watching for it on these streets long enough to know what to look for and what it means when I find it.
The first sign is often a single branch that yellows and wilts in early summer while the rest of the crown looks healthy. That is called flagging, and it usually means the worst. I will peel back a bit of bark on that branch and look for the telltale brown streak in the wood. If it is there, the tree is tagged. I will not tell you the disease can be pruned out, because it cannot, and anyone who does is selling something that will not work. Once Dutch elm disease is confirmed, the tree has to come down. The wood goes straight to an approved disposal site, and the stump is ground out to prevent regrowth. There is no middle ground here.
The provincial elm pruning ban runs from April 1 to July 31, so I always check the rules for your address before any work begins. I have been doing this work here long enough to speak plainly: it costs nothing to have me look at a flagging branch or a tree you are worried about. Call me at (431) 444-5195 for a free estimate.
Tree Planting and Transplanting in St. Boniface
St. Boniface is home turf for me, and I know what grows here. The neighbourhood sits on heavy clay, with century-old brick and frame houses sheltered by enormous American elms that tower over the back lanes and rear yards. When I plant a tree on your lot, I choose species proven to survive this zone and I set them far enough from your foundation to account for their mature spread. I also keep them clear of the clay that heaves against basement walls in our deep winters. What I will not plant is another elm or another ash. This city planted one species down whole streets decades ago, and we are paying for that mistake twice over now, with disease and storm damage eating through the canopy.
If you have a young tree that went in the wrong spot, I can move it, provided the root system will tolerate the shift. I handle the pit preparation, the staking to hold it steady against our wind, and I give you real watering instructions for the first two summers, when the tree is most vulnerable. I do not guess at spacing or species; I look at your soil, your exposure, and what your neighbours have thriving on their own properties. Before any work starts, I check the rules for your address, especially if elm is involved, since the provincial pruning ban runs from April through July.
Call me at (431) 444-5195 for a free estimate. I will walk your yard, show you what will thrive there, and explain why.
St. Boniface, as the arborist sees it
St. Boniface is home turf for me. Walking these streets, you see what drew me to this trade: block after block of brick and frame houses, many of them a century old, standing under enormous American elms that dwarf the rooflines. These trees are the neighbourhood's spine. They shade the rear lanes that cut through the blocks, narrow passages where my truck barely fits, where I have to read the canopy before I can even approach the work. The soil here is heavy clay, typical of the river valley, and those elms grip it hard. In spring, I watch them leaf out with that dense, papery green that catches every wet snow we get in April. By mid-summer, the streets are cathedral-quiet under that cover. Come autumn, the colour is soft gold, not the sharp reds you see elsewhere.
What makes this work particular to St. Boniface is the elm itself. The provincial elm pruning ban runs April through July, and I check the rules for every address before I touch one. The trees here are old enough that storm damage happens quietly, a branch fails inside the canopy and you don't see it until the next wind. I've also seen what emerald ash borer does to the green ash scattered through these blocks, and I watch for Dutch elm disease every season. Landmarks like The Forks Market and Canadian Museum for Human Rights sit within sight of residential blocks where the tree work is constant, steady, and demands precision. These are not suburban trees planted forty years ago; they are living history, and they need someone who knows what he is doing.
