Ithaca is built on the rims of its own gorges, hillsides tipping down toward the flat foot of Cayuga Lake, and the trees holding those slopes have always done more than give shade. Ithaca Tree Service works the steep yards on both hills, where a black locust can lean out over a driveway carved straight into a bank. Pruning keeps light moving through a valley that runs solid green by June; tree trimming clears the roofs on West Hill and the wires strung along the East. Tree removal on grades like these takes rigging and patience, wood lowered rather than dropped, garden beds and retaining walls left exactly as they were found. After the storms that funnel down the length of the lake, storm damage cleanup carries off what came down and leaves the hillside standing.