The questions
we get most.

Star Tannery is home base. We work daily in Winchester, Strasburg, and Stephens City; weekly in Capon Bridge, Middletown, and Gore; and on-call into Front Royal. Outside that radius, call anyway — if a job’s big enough, we’ll travel.

Yes — fully licensed in Virginia and carrying general liability plus workers’ comp on every crew member. We’re happy to send you a current Certificate of Insurance before any work starts. Just ask.

Us. We’re a four-person crew, all employees, all on our own trucks. We do not subcontract. The person who walks the property with you for the estimate will be on site the day of the job.

Typically one to three weeks for routine work. We hold capacity for storm and emergency calls, so those usually go same-day or next-day depending on conditions.

Yes. Always free, always in person, always written. We don’t charge to come look. Most estimates take 20 minutes and we’ll hand you a quote on the spot or in your inbox by end of day.

No. We won’t, even when people push. There’s too much that affects a tree job — species, lean, access, what’s underneath it, line clearance — to give you a real number without seeing it. A phone quote would either be way over (so we never lose) or way under (so you get a bait-and-switch). Neither is honest.

Check, cash, Venmo, Zelle, and major cards. For jobs over $2,500 we ask for a 25% deposit to schedule; balance is due on completion.

30 days. After that we may need to re-walk the property — sometimes a tree that was iffy a month ago has become a clear hazard, or the opposite.

On private property in Frederick or Shenandoah County, almost never. Some HOAs require notice and a few historic districts in Winchester do too. If your situation needs a permit, we’ll tell you before we quote.

By default, no. We cut the tree to a low stump and leave it. Stump grinding is a separate line item we’ll quote together so the price is clear. Most stumps run a few hundred dollars depending on diameter and access.

Yes. Tell us at the estimate and we’ll buck the trunk into rounds and stack them where you want. Otherwise it gets hauled off as part of the cleanup.

For most shade trees: late winter (Jan–early March), when the tree is dormant and we can see structure clearly. Flowering trees usually want pruning right after they bloom. Storm cleanup and clearance pruning we’ll handle any time of year.

No — topping permanently damages trees and creates worse hazards down the road. If a tree is too tall for the spot, the honest options are a proper crown reduction (limited cases) or full removal and replant. We’ll walk you through both.

Both. Standing weekly or bi-weekly routes get scheduling priority, but we’ll absolutely come do a one-off cleanup mow when you need it.

That’s a big chunk of our spring and fall work. Full property leaf removal, bed cleanups, gutters, the works. Quoted per property — they vary too much to price by the hour.

Yes — for rough pasture, fenceline overgrowth, lots that have gone wild. We bring our own equipment; no tractor required from you.

Call (000) 000-0000 — that line rings 24/7 for emergencies. Then call your insurance company and start a claim. Don’t try to move anything yourself; live limbs under load are unpredictable. We’ll be on site as fast as conditions allow.

We can. Most homeowners’ insurance covers tree-on-structure damage but not removal of trees that didn’t hit anything — we’ll talk through what’s likely covered and write the estimate to make the claim process easy on you.

Tree on a house, car, or fence. Tree blocking a driveway or road. Large hanging limbs (widow-makers) that could fall. Anything actively threatening people or property. Other stuff — even big stuff — can usually wait until morning.