Straight answers about tree work, one question at a time.

Why is my pine dropping needles? Fall shedding of the oldest needles can be normal, NC State Extension's handbook says; browning across the crown reads differently.

How do I tell if a tree is dead? Three checks can be made from the ground, and none settles it alone.

Will a tree struck by lightning survive? For a hardwood it turns on the strike's severity; a struck pine adds a bark beetle question.

Should ivy be pulled off a tree? Yes, beginning at the ground, NC State Extension says, which leaves the trunk readable again.

Questions about a tree's condition that other guides own: a tree hung in another tree and who gets help first after a storm, in emergency or Monday job triage; a tree down in the yard with nothing damaged, and waiting for the adjuster, in tree damage insurance claims; whether a hollow tree can be saved, in dead and rotten trunks; how close is too close, in the hazard tree field guide; which trees break more readily in ice and wind, in ice storms and Piedmont trees; and cutting roots that lift a driveway, in lifted or cracked soil.

What is the difference between stump grinding and stump removal? Grinding leaves the deeper roots to rot, while digging pulls the root ball out and leaves a hole to fill; in public stump contracts, removal can mean grinding.

Will an old stump attract termites? Yes, in time, NC State Extension says, though it feeds termites already in the yard, and its termite publication names stumps left under houses.

How do you get grass to grow over a ground stump? The grindings come out first, soil is mixed in, and seed goes down in the grass's own window, the order NC State Extension supports.

Stump questions other pages own: grinding beside a fence or a foundation, in stump grinding cost, and a spot meant for a replant or a building, among the questions on stump grinding.

How far back should limbs over a roof be cut? NC State Extension and the state's Wildlife Resources Commission each give a squirrel distance, and Extension's figure for a squirrel's jump goes past it.

How tall is my tree? American Forests' stick method, which the NC Forest Service posts, works it out from the lawn with a yardstick and a tape.

Planning questions other guides own: a pick and the crane operator's part, in how a crane removal day goes; wires near a crane, sections kept off a roof and a tree between two houses, in crane or climber; the tree another company walked away from, on crane-assisted tree removal; removal timing and several trees in one visit, in what drives a tree removal quote; what to have ready before a crew arrives, in what a crane needs from the lot; how much of a crown can come off at once, in what drives a tree trimming quote; and whether trimming helps a tree weather storms, in hurricane season in the Piedmont.