Tree Removal, Pruning & Stump Grinding in Centennial, CO
Ash diagnosis, pruning, removal and stump grinding across Centennial. The city contracts out its public works and sends tree questions to the county Extension office, so the diagnosis has to come from somewhere else — and it should come before the number does.
The city publishes what to look for in a tree company. We meet every item on its list, and we will show you the paperwork.
Free on-site assessment · Written quote · No obligation
Centennial incorporated in 2001 as a contract city and it has stayed that way. Public works is delivered under contract by an outside firm. The city handles weeds and trash in the public rights-of-way and partners with SEMSWA and South Suburban on the drainage and greenway land.
What it does not have is a forestry division or a city forester. When a resident asks about a tree, the city’s own emerald ash borer page sends them to CSU Extension–Arapahoe County — [email protected], 303-730-1920.
The Master Gardeners are good and they are free, and for a general question they are the right call. What they cannot do is stand in your yard, look up into a 45-year-old ash and tell you whether it is worth eight hundred dollars of treatment or three thousand dollars of removal. That judgement has to be made on site, by someone who is liable for it.
This is not our checklist. These are the criteria the City of Centennial publishes for residents hiring an arborist, quoted from the city’s own page, with our answer next to each one.
The city also points residents to the ISA’s public arborist search. Use it. Look us up, then look up whoever else quoted you.
Yes. The City of Centennial states that EAB has been confirmed in a small area on the west side of Centennial, dated June 2024, and the Colorado State Forest Service listed Centennial among the Front Range communities with new detections that year. The city advises west-side residents that treating ash trees sooner rather than later is advisable. Ash make up about 15% of Colorado’s urban forest.
The confirmed detection is on the west side. That does not mean the east side is safe — it means the two halves of the city are on different clocks.
You are inside or beside the confirmed area, and the city’s own advice is that treating sooner rather than later is advisable. Trunk injection protects a healthy ash for roughly two years per treatment, and it works far better before decline shows than after. The assessment here is mostly a triage question: which of your ash are worth protecting and which are already too far gone to be worth the money.
You have something the west side no longer has, which is a choice made calmly. This is the window for the unglamorous work: identify what is actually an ash, get the healthy ones on a schedule, and start replacing the poor specimens with something that is not an ash. A yard that loses one tree over three planned years is a very different experience from a yard that loses four in one.
Nearly every complaint people have about tree companies comes down to the same thing: something happened that the homeowner never agreed to. These five exist so that cannot happen here.
Centennial runs a tree programme that sells residents trees at $85 plus tax, chosen to encourage species diversity and water conservation. Participants pick the tree up and plant it themselves, and they are responsible for all watering and maintenance afterwards.
The part worth knowing: the city offers a full refund to residents who removed an ash tree within the past year, on documentation. In practice that makes the replacement tree free if you have already lost an ash.
We do not get paid when you use that programme, and we will still tell you about it. If the right answer for your yard is an $85 city tree and a shovel on a Saturday, that is a better outcome than a quote from us.
Centennial has no municipal water utility — it is served by several independent districts, and they are not all under the same rules. Denver Water is in a Stage 1 drought with two assigned watering days. East Cherry Creek Valley has gone further.
ECCV’s notice is unambiguous: from 1 October 2026, “USE OF OUTDOOR SPRINKLER SYSTEMS AND GRASS WATERING OF ANY KIND WILL NOT BE PERMITTED.” Drip irrigation is allowed once weekly for trees and shrubs only, and hand-watering of trees, shrubs and gardens is permitted any day. The district cites the lowest snowpack on record.
Read that carefully, because the exemption is the whole point. The sprinklers stop and the trees can still be watered — by hand or by drip. A homeowner who reads only the headline turns everything off in October and wonders in June why the ash looks thin. One of our customers, Cynthia, put the other half of it better than we could: pruning out the water-hungry growth a tree does not need is itself a water decision.
★★★★★
“Very professional and took great care to protect bushes around the trees being trimmed. Owner is a certified Arborist, that made a huge difference compared to the previous tree companies I used.”
— Verified Google Review · Verified Google Review
★★★★★
“They removed dead and diseased branches, trimmed along side yard and sidewalk, thinned out in spots and reduced branches overhanging the house. Tree shape is outstanding.”
— James E. · Verified Google Review
★★★★★
“They did perfect work, lots of attention to detail not only in the cuts, but also in the clean up.”
— Ari O. · Verified Google Review
For a tree on your own property, a private arborist — Centennial has no city forester and no forestry division. The city is a contract city and its emerald ash borer page refers residents to CSU Extension–Arapahoe County at [email protected] or 303-730-1920 for general questions. For a diagnosis on a specific tree, somebody has to stand under it.
Yes. The city states EAB has been confirmed in a small area on the west side of Centennial, dated June 2024. The city’s advice to west-side residents is that treating ash trees sooner rather than later is advisable. Ash make up roughly 15% of Colorado’s urban forest, so on a 1980s Centennial street the odds that at least one of your trees is an ash are not small.
The city publishes the answer: a current State of Colorado Pesticide Applicator License, ideally ISA certification, proof of insurance, written contracts, references and multiple quotes. Ironwood meets all of those — Derek Stroden holds a Colorado Department of Agriculture Certified Spray Supervisor licence and an ISA Certified Arborist credential. Ask us for the paperwork, then ask whoever else quoted you.
We could not find any Centennial tree-removal permit or tree ordinance, so we are not going to tell you there is one. What can constrain you is your HOA. Large parts of Centennial — Willow Creek, Homestead Farm, Heritage Greens and others — are covenant-governed, and removal or replacement can need approval. Check your covenants before you book anything.
Yes. The Centennial Tree Program sells trees at $85 plus tax and offers a full refund to residents who removed an ash tree within the past year, on documentation. You pick the tree up and plant it yourself, and you are responsible for the watering afterwards — which in a drought year is the hard part, not the planting.
Check your own district, because Centennial is served by several and they differ. East Cherry Creek Valley bans outdoor sprinklers and grass watering from 1 October 2026 but still allows weekly drip for trees and shrubs and hand-watering of trees any day. Denver Water allows hand-watering and drip for trees any day outside 10 AM to 6 PM. In both cases the trees are the exemption, not the target.
One ISA Certified Arborist behind all six, and one written quote if you need more than one of them.
Tree Removal · Tree Trimming & Pruning · Stump Grinding · Pest & Disease Control · Tree Injections · Lawn Fertilization & Weed Control
Aurora · Denver · Parker · Castle Rock · Highlands Ranch · Englewood · Littleton · Greenwood Village
Tell us what you are seeing and an ISA Certified Arborist will come and look at it. Written quote, no deposit, and an honest answer about whether it needs anything at all.
312 Norfolk St, Unit A, Aurora, CO 80011 · Monday to Friday, 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM · Serving Centennial and the Denver metro since 2003