How tall is my tree?
A tree's height can be estimated from the ground with a yardstick held upright at arm's length: the stick and the tree make two triangles of the same shape, so three measured lengths give the height by proportion. American Forests' measuring guidelines, posted by the NC Forest Service, put this stick method at the beginning level, for initial measurements.
Similar triangles turn a yardstick reading into a height
The stick method in American Forests' guidelines rests on triangles of the same shape, whose sides are proportional. Hold a yardstick upright at arm's length and move until the part above your hand just covers the tree, then measure that part (b), your eye to the top of your hand (a), and, with a tape, your eye to the tree's base (A).
The height is A times b, divided by a: in the guidelines' example, A is 120.0 feet, a is 2.5 feet and b is 2.7, so "B, the tree's height, is 129.6 feet."
The stick assumes the treetop stands over the base
American Forests says the stick method needs similar triangles and the top of the tree "exactly vertical over the base," that "One or both requirements are often unfulfilled," and that "The highest twig of a tree is often not directly over its base."
A leaning tree gets its own rule in the NC Forest Service's champion-tree guidelines: measure it "at right angles to the direction of lean."
A height is for describing the tree and what stands near it
A height is most useful beside one more thing: what stands within that distance of the trunk. The home page's job planner asks for the height, "Rough guess is fine," and the quote form takes the rest in words.
Height is one thing that moves a removal, not the main one; what drives a tree removal quote goes over the others. Crane or climber picks up the crane question a tall tree raises, and the crane removal cost page lists what a crane adds.
Got a height? Say what stands within that distance of the trunk.
Questions people actually ask.
Does a Biltmore stick measure a tree's full height?
No. NC State Extension describes the scale stick "often referred to as a Biltmore stick or a cruiser's stick" as a timber tool reading merchantable height, "the length of usable tree," from the stump to a cutoff in the top that "will vary with markets," not total height.
How close does a stick estimate get?
American Forests' guidelines give the stick method no accuracy figure and say "Errors, often significant, are common for traditional methods." The NC Forest Service measures champion trees with a clinometer, to the nearest foot.
Why does the stick method need the distance to the tree?
Because the height is scaled from it: the stick supplies the ratio, and the taped distance to the tree's base supplies the size.
Does a crew need an exact height to quote a tree?
No. On Arbor Aves jobs every tree is walked and quoted on site; the home page's second step is "We look at it with you." A rough height is enough to start the call.