Tree and shrub services in North Yarmouth, Maine.

The Maine Forest Service lists oak, apple, cherry and shadbush among the trees and shrubs browntail moth caterpillars feed on, and says webs within safe reach can be clipped between October and March, before caterpillars emerge in mid-April. Clipped webs that are burned need a burn permit, which North Yarmouth residents get through the Maine Forest Service or at the fire station.

The Comprehensive Plan also notes that the Royal River and Chandler Brook are managed and stocked as cold-water fisheries, with wild brook trout reproducing in the upper Royal, and that removing streamside trees warms the water. Keeping riverbank trees healthy through pruning and plant health care, rather than cutting them, serves both the owner and the brook.

Away from the water, the same approach applies to the large yard trees that come with lots cut from forest: deadwood out, weak crotches corrected early, and clearance kept over roofs and driveways so a winter storm has less to break. Shrub trimming around the house follows the same logic, shaping for health first and size second.