Tree Removal in Ferndale, WA

Ferndale sits on the Nooksack River, and a lot of the town and the ground around it is low, flat and slow to drain. From November into spring the soil stays saturated. That matters for trees more than most people realise, because a waterlogged root zone does not hold. Black cottonwood and red alder on river ground tend to root shallow and wide, and when the soil around them is soft, a hard gust can lever the whole root plate out of the ground. A tree that looked solid in summer can go over in one piece in January.

The wind makes it worse. Ferndale is open to the north, and when cold northeast outflow comes down the Fraser Valley it crosses a lot of flat farmland before it reaches town. Tall trees standing alone, or left at the edge of a new clearing, take the full force of it.

The properties split two ways. Out along Mountain View Road and the rural edges of town there are older lots with big alder, cottonwood and the odd huge Douglas fir or cedar, often with a long drive and room to work. In the newer subdivisions, houses were built into stands of second-growth timber, and a row of fir that was sheltered by the forest is now standing on its own at the back fence. Near the Main Street area and around Pioneer Park the lots are smaller and older, with mature yard trees close to the house.