Remember the trees in "The Wizard of Oz," the scary guys who talked tough and threw apples? They didn't look very happy, you'll recall, so it wasn't surprising that their bite was even worse than their bark.
On occasion your trees might become equally shady characters, done in — and perhaps ultimately brought down — by disease or damage or both.
To keep your trees healthy or to get rid of dying ones, you may want the benefit of professional advice, skill and labor. To help you find this help, nonprofit consumer group Twin Cities Consumers' Checkbook and Checkbook.org has surveyed its members and Consumer Reports subscribers about their experiences with area tree care services.
For the next month, Checkbook is offering free access to its ratings of tree care services to StarTribune readers via this link: checkbook.org/startribune/tree-care.
You don't have to be an expert to spot many potential tree problems. Examine your trees several times a year for the following:
• Discolored leaves and thinning in the tree's crown;
• Roots pulled loose from the ground and fungal growths on roots and main trunk;
• Dead and fallen branches more than 2 inches in diameter;