Tree and shrub care in Westbrook, Maine.

Many Westbrook lots have a city street tree at the curb and private trees a few feet behind it. The city's GIS map shows which trees are municipal, and that is the first check before any pruning near the front of a property. Limbs overhanging the street from a private tree are the owner's; the street tree itself is the city's.

Shrubs along foundations in older neighborhoods are often decades overgrown. Those are reduced over two or three seasons rather than in one hard cut, so they leaf back in rather than dying out.

Pruning timing follows the species. Oaks are best pruned in the dormant season; maples bleed sap in late winter but take no harm from it; flowering shrubs are cut right after bloom so next year's buds are not lost. A licensed arborist sets that calendar for each property instead of pruning everything in one visit. Hazard limbs over a roof or driveway are the exception and are dealt with when found.