The Sangamon River bends slowly past Monticello, through the great old woods at Allerton and back out into Piatt County farmland, and the hardwoods standing along it set the standard for what a tree can become. JL Helmuth, LLC Tree Service works to that standard in town and out — pruning oaks and walnuts for structure and light, trimming back whatever has reached the roofline, removing trees gone unsound above a house or a drive. Storms track up this valley through spring and summer, so storm damage cleanup is the morning-after job: saws out, drive opened, brush chipped and hauled. Late sun coming through a properly opened crown is a sight worth the sweat it took. Lawn cleared, cuts clean, the tree better set for the next decade — that is the whole of the ambition.