The Ironwood Vitality Plan · Year-Round Tree & Shrub Care
Targeted seasonal spraying, deep-root fertilization, trunk injections and arborist monitoring across the Denver metro. An ISA Certified Arborist builds the plan around the trees you actually have, and nothing is priced until he has walked the property.
There is no tier sheet and no package to choose from. The plan is written after the assessment, and you see the whole number before any of it starts.
Free on-site assessment · Written quote · No obligation
The Ironwood Vitality Plan is a year-round plant health care programme for trees and shrubs across Aurora and the Denver metro. It combines targeted seasonal spraying, deep-root fertilization, trunk injections, annual arborist monitoring, and tree and shrub trimming into one plan built for a single property. An ISA Certified Arborist assesses the trees first and writes the plan around what they need, so no two plans match.
This is the whole argument for a plan rather than a phone call. A tree under attack does not look under attack. It keeps its leaves, holds its shape, and looks like every other tree on the street, while the damage runs underneath the bark where nobody is looking.
Emerald ash borer is the clearest case. An untreated infested ash dies within three to five years. But the treatable window sits early in that stretch: ash that are less than 40% declined respond extremely well to trunk injection, and ash that are further gone often do not.
So the decision that matters is not what you do when the tree looks bad. It is whether anybody was looking at the tree in the years before that.
That is what the Vitality Plan buys. Not a product — a set of eyes on the property every year, from someone qualified to tell the difference between a tree having a rough summer and a tree in the first stage of something that ends in a removal.
These are the three problems we are treating for most often across the Denver metro. None of them announces itself early, which is exactly why they end in removals so often.
The pest killing Colorado’s ash. Confirmed in Denver and Aurora in 2025, and in Douglas County in 2026. Untreated, an infested ash dies within three to five years. Caught early, emamectin benzoate trunk injection gives roughly two years of protection per treatment.
IPS beetle and other borers go after trees that are already stressed — drought, compacted soil, root damage from construction. Seasonal treatment timed to the pest, rather than to the calendar, is what stops an infestation moving across a property.
Cytospora canker, fire blight, anthracnose and iron chlorosis all look like a tired tree until they do not. Iron chlorosis in particular responds to injection inside four to six weeks, which makes it one of the more satisfying things on this list to catch.
Not every property gets all five. The assessment decides which of these your trees actually need, and the plan is written from that.
Applications timed to the pests that threaten Front Range trees, rather than to a generic schedule. Applied under a Colorado Department of Agriculture licence.
Colorado soils are hard and they are hungry. Deep-root feeding puts nutrients where the feeder roots are, which is what brings vigour back to a stressed or slowly declining tree.
The high-value treatment. Emerald ash borer, borers, iron chlorosis, scale and systemic pests — and it is work that requires a licensed applicator, which a general landscape crew is not.
An ISA Certified Arborist looks at the trees each year and writes down what changed. This is the part that turns the other four into a plan instead of a series of unrelated visits.
Structural pruning to ANSI A300 standards, on the same schedule as the rest of the plan. We do not top trees, on this plan or on any other job.
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.
Three steps, and the first two cost nothing. You are not committing to anything by having someone look.
Every tree and shrub, not just the one you called about. He is looking for what is declining, what is at risk, what is fine and should be left alone, and what would be cheaper to deal with now than in three years.
What we would treat, when in the year we would treat it, and why each item is on the list. If something on your property does not need treating, it will not be on there — that is the part most people are actually checking for.
Applications happen when the pest calendar says they should, not when it suits a route. You get told what was done and what we saw, and the following year’s plan is written off the back of that.
Commercial pesticide application in Colorado is regulated by the Department of Agriculture. Derek Stroden holds its Certified Spray Supervisor credential, along with ISA Certified Arborist status and a B.S. in Forestry from Colorado State University.
That combination is the reason this page exists as a plan rather than a product. Anyone can sell a spray. Deciding what a specific tree needs, in what order, over several years, is a different job.
Ask for credentials before anyone treats anything on your property — ours, and the next company’s. You can verify an ISA certification yourself in under a minute through the ISA directory, and we will hand you the licence documentation without being chased for it.
★★★★★
“He could definitely have sold me on unnecessary work… My invoice was for the quoted amount and no more. UPDATE almost a year later and my silver maple is thriving. Those iron injections really worked!”
— Wendy B. · Verified Google Review
★★★★★
“Derek… refused to try to upsell me on treatments I didn’t need but had been quoted as necessary by two other companies. He also was not afraid to let me know I could check with an independent source as to whether his assessment was correct compared to the others.”
— Michael H. · Verified Google Review
★★★★★
“Jeff also explained that those little sucker branches actually just take water and don’t do anything. So with the drought, we really feel like we have prevented some damage to our trees as well as over using water for nothing.”
— Cynthia N. · Verified Google Review
There is no set price, because there is no set plan. Every property has a different number of trees, in different condition, facing different problems. An ISA Certified Arborist assesses the trees at no cost and writes the plan and the price together. You see the whole number in writing before anything is scheduled, and nothing happens that you have not approved.
No, and we are not going to invent some. A tier sheet only works if every property is roughly the same, and they are not. A half-acre in Greenwood Village with four mature ash needs something quite different from a 1980s Highlands Ranch lot where every tree went in the same year. The plan is built from the assessment.
Yes. Trunk injection with emamectin benzoate, applied by a Colorado Dept. of Agriculture Certified Spray Supervisor. One treatment gives roughly two years of protection. Ash that are less than 40% declined respond extremely well; ash further gone than that often do not, which is why the assessment comes first. An untreated infested ash dies within three to five years.
That is the only time it is worth it. Treatment works on trees that still have something to protect. Once a tree is visibly failing, the honest options narrow quickly and removal starts appearing on the list. The plan exists to keep you out of that conversation, not to get you through it.
Aurora, Denver, Centennial, Parker, Castle Rock, Highlands Ranch, Englewood, Littleton and Greenwood Village. We are based at 312 Norfolk St, Unit A, in Aurora, and have worked across the Denver metro since 2003 — more than 25,000 residential clients and over 1,000 commercial ones. If your address is near that list but not on it, ask.
Yes — ISA Certified Arborist, Colorado Dept. of Agriculture Certified Spray Supervisor, general liability and workers’ compensation. Documentation is available on request, and we would rather you asked. Uninsured tree work on your property is your liability, not the contractor’s, and that is true whether anyone mentions it to you or not.
Yes. Plenty of people do. Trunk injections, deep-root feeding and pest and disease work are all available as one-off jobs, and the arborist will tell you if that is genuinely all your property needs. The plan is for people who would rather the checking happened without them having to remember to book it.
Each one is available on its own as well. The plan simply decides which of them your property needs, and when.
Tree Removal · Tree Trimming & Pruning · Stump Grinding · Pest & Disease Control · Tree Injections · Lawn Fertilization & Weed Control
Aurora · Denver · Centennial · Parker · Castle Rock · Highlands Ranch · Englewood · Littleton · Greenwood Village
A free on-site assessment with an ISA Certified Arborist. He will tell you what is healthy, what is at risk, and whether a plan is worth it for your property — including when the answer is no.
312 Norfolk St, Unit A, Aurora, CO 80011 · Monday to Friday, 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM · Serving the Denver metro since 2003
"They actually diagnosed why my ash tree was declining instead of just guessing. Treated it and it's thriving again. That's expertise you can't fake."
Robert T. — Denver, CO
"Derek and the crew did an outstanding job. On time, professional, cleaned up every last branch, and charged exactly what they quoted. Won't use anyone else."
Jennifer M. — Aurora, CO
"Came out the morning after a storm, cleared everything, and sent photos. This is what a professional company looks like. Highly recommend."
Sarah K. — Centennial, CO
Free Assessment
An ISA Certified Arborist walks your property and evaluates every tree — no cost, no obligation.
Your Custom Plan
We build a Vitality Plan around your specific trees and the threats they actually face.
Year-Round Care
We treat, feed, and monitor — so your trees stay healthy and you never get a surprise.
Every property is different, so we price the plan after a free on-site assessment of your trees. You'll get a clear, written plan and price before anything begins — no pressure.
Yes. Our Colorado Dept. of Agriculture Certified Spray Supervisor provides trunk injections and treatment to protect and save ash trees across the Denver Metro.
Aurora, Denver, Centennial, Parker, Englewood, Highlands Ranch, Littleton, Cherry Creek, and Douglas County.
Fully. ISA Certified, state-licensed for chemical applications, with general liability and workers' comp — documentation available on request.
Book a free tree-health assessment with an ISA Certified Arborist. We'll tell you honestly what's healthy, what's at risk, and whether the Vitality Plan is right for your property.
Book a free tree-health assessment with an ISA Certified Arborist. We'll tell you honestly what's healthy, what's at risk, and whether the Vitality Plan is right for your property.