About Us
The crew behind Nova Terra
A straightforward Illinois tree service: insured, properly equipped, and honest about what your trees actually need.
Quick answer
Nova Terra Tree Services is a licensed and insured tree service company based in Southern Illinois, serving the entire state since 2019. We specialize in tree removal, pruning to ANSI A300 standards, stump grinding, land clearing, and 24/7 storm and emergency response for residential, commercial, agricultural, and municipal clients.
Who we are
Nova Terra started with one truck, one chipper, and a simple observation: in the tree business, showing up when you said you would is most of the job.
We are a working crew, not a call center with subcontractors. When you get an estimate from us, the person walking your property is the person responsible for the work. That is deliberate; it is the only way the estimate matches what actually happens on the day.
Our shop is in Southern Illinois, and our trucks run the length of the state, which is how we cover Illinois end to end without pretending distance does not exist. Travel gets built into the quote up front. You will never get a surprise mileage line on the invoice.
How we work
We tell you when a tree can be saved
Removals pay better than pruning. We still tell you when a tree is fine, because a customer who trusts us calls us for the next fifteen years. Roughly half the "that tree needs to come out" calls we get turn into a prune and a health assessment instead.
We prune to standard, not to preference
ANSI A300 is the industry standard for pruning, and it exists because bad pruning kills more Illinois trees than storms do. No topping. No flush cuts. No stub cuts. No spikes in a tree that is staying. No more than about 25% of live canopy in a season.
We carry real insurance
General liability and workers' compensation, with certificates issued directly to you, your HOA, or your property manager on request. Tree work has one of the highest injury rates of any trade. If an uninsured crew gets hurt in your yard, that exposure can land on you. Ask every bidder for a COI. Including us.
We finish the job
Brush chipped, wood hauled or stacked where you want it, ruts repaired, yard raked and blown. The cleanup is not an upsell; it is part of the work.
If we leave your property messier than we found it, we have not finished the job. That is not a marketing line; it is the standard the crew gets held to.
What we run
Right equipment, right job. Climbing gear and hand saws for delicate ornamental work. Full rigging for sectional takedowns where there is no drop zone. Chippers for brush, stump grinders sized to fit through a 36-inch gate, and heavier machines for acreage clearing. Bringing the wrong machine is how yards get destroyed.
Who we work for
- Homeowners: the bulk of what we do. One tree or a whole yard.
- Landlords and property managers: liability pruning, deadwood over walkways, scheduled maintenance, per-property invoicing.
- HOAs: common-area tree inventories and multi-year budgets so tree work stops being an annual surprise.
- Farms and rural properties: fence lines, field edges, windbreaks, lanes, and dead ash along the tree rows.
- Municipalities: parkway and right-of-way trimming and removals.
- General contractors: site clearing, crane clearance pruning, and root zone protection for trees that are staying.
More on the commercial side is on the commercial and municipal tree care page.
Straight answers about us
We are based in Southern Illinois, and we work the entire state: Chicagoland, the Quad Cities, Peoria, Springfield, Champaign-Urbana, Metro East, and southern Illinois. Travel on longer hauls is included in the written quote before you agree to anything.
Yes. General liability and workers' compensation. We will send a certificate of insurance directly to you or your property manager on request, and we encourage you to ask every company you get a bid from.
No. The crew that shows up is our crew, and the person who quoted your job is accountable for it.
Our pruning follows ANSI A300 standards and our climbers work to ANSI Z133 safety practices. If your job needs a formal report from an ISA Certified Arborist, for a permit, a legal matter, or an insurance dispute, tell us at the estimate and we will make sure you get what you need.
Insurance, cleanup, and proper cuts. The three things that get cut to hit a rock-bottom price are the three things that cost you most later: an uninsured injury, a wrecked lawn, or a topped tree that fails in four years.
No. We do trees, stumps, and clearing. Trades that try to do everything tend to be mediocre at all of it.
Put us to the test
The fastest way to judge a tree company is to have them walk your property and explain what they see. That part is free.
- Honest keep-or-remove recommendation in writing
- No sales pressure and no obligation
- Certificate of insurance on request
Request a free estimate
We reply fast, usually the same business day.
Let us come look at it
Free on-site estimate anywhere in Illinois. Written price, insured crew, full cleanup.