Willow Grove first, and anywhere in Pennsylvania.

Start with the ash. Emerald ash borer is now in nearly every county in Pennsylvania, and it kills an ash tree three to five years after it gets in. A lot of the removals in this part of Montgomery County are ash that died standing, and a dead ash goes brittle fast.

Then the wind. On September 1, 2021 the remnants of Hurricane Ida put an EF-2 tornado on the ground for eight miles, from Fort Washington through Upper Dublin to Horsham. Near Stuart Creek the National Weather Service found nearly every tree snapped or badly damaged. Trees that were half-broken that day are still coming down.

The beeches and oaks have their own trouble. Beech leaf disease has been found in all 67 Pennsylvania counties, and bacterial leaf scorch is widespread on pin and red oaks in the eastern part of the state: leaves browning at the edges from mid-summer, a little worse every year.

And the rules change at every township line. Abington doesn't regulate trees on private property at all. Next door in Hatboro, you need a permit from the Shade Tree Commission before touching a tree by the street. We work in both, and we'll tell you which applies.