It was about 8:30 at night when the tree fell on the house. The KA-BOOM was loud, and while the house didn’t shake, you felt it when it happened. We went outside and checked around and found the tree hanging partially on and partially off the roof. Branches were a couple of inches away from our bay window in front of the house, but no windows were broken.

We made two calls that night. One to the insurance company, and one to Allen, who owns Green Acres Tree and Landscaping in Culpeper. Allen was going to a job in Fairfax the next morning, but would stop by on the way to town.

Allen was at the house at 7:15 the next morning, right when he said he would arrive. We looked at the tree, and he said he could take it down, but we were going to need a crane because of the precarious way the tree was hanging on the house. I said fine, let’s do what we need to. Later that day he called me from the road. He’d arranged for a crane the next morning at 8:00 AM, so we were in business. I talked to the insurance company again and the adjuster said he would wait till the tree was down before coming to assess the damage.

Today, Allen and a 6 man crew arrived at 7:30 AM and the crane arrive just after 8:00. The crane was big. I mean really big. They positioned the crane in the yard, and then one of the men climbed onto the skyhook and rode it up above the fallen tree. They lowered him to the tree, where he proceeded to hook ropes around the various branches, and then connect the ropes and belts to the skyhook. Once he completed that, he repelled down from the tree to the ground.


Now the crane took over. Slowly it raised the tree, but the tree wasn’t moving far. They had to cut side branches that were stuck in the ground, and cut the base of the tree away from the stump. John, the crane guy, raised the crane again, and this time, the tree moved freely. Up, and oh so slowly, he move the tree off the house and to the side. Then….stop. One of the branches was up against our big bay window. Two of the guys threw a rope over the branch, and the team pulled it away from the window. John slowly lowered, lowered, lowered the tree until it gently touched the ground. There wasn’t one broken window and there was no new damage to the house. Quite simply amazing.

The truck was gone by 10:00AM and the crew started cutting up the tree. It will be several hours before they finish.

I love it when you can watch professionals at work. Everyone plainly knew their job and did it well. It’s not that they made it look easy, as it wasn’t an easy job. They just went about their work professionally, and you can’t beat that. 

You can bet that I will hire Allen and Green Acres again for any tree work needed. I’d recommend them to anyone here in Northern Virginia.