A Springfield summer evening can go from cicada hum to hail inside twenty minutes, and the old shade trees over the brick streets take the brunt of it. National Tree Care LLC answers the mornings that follow with saws and a chipper: split leaders lowered piece by piece, branches worked off fences and cars, drives reopened, the last of the twigs raked out of the grass. In fair weather the pace slows and the work turns deliberate — trimming hackberries and maples for clearance, pruning young trees toward a frame that will hold, removing the elm and ash that have run out of road. Along the bluffs above the Sangamon north of town the timber grows tall and close together, and a yard carved out of that woods needs a steady hand anywhere near the house. A crisp edge under a shade tree and a lawn with room to grow again is reason enough for the drive.