Tree died after being trimmed by a company - don't know what to do
Hello! I'm stressed and could use some advice. Sorry in advanced about formatting as I've never posted on Reddit before.
I bought my first house 2024 in California and inherited a row of cyprus trees in my backyard. I hired a well reviewed company to trim my trees early 2026. They didn't trim that much off them and they looked fine after the trim.
About a month ago I noticed one of the trees was considerably brown and looked to be dying. I got that same company to come out to look at the tree and they said the tree was dead. They also said they didn't know what was happening and were going to call an arborist (I tried to hire arborists in the first place and thought I did but alas...)
As I continue to look at the other trees in the row, I notice the neighboring trees have branches that are starting to turn brown too. I also noticed that the most brown branches are ones that were cut during the trim.
The trees have been alive and well for years before this trim and now there might be some disease spreading. What options do I have? I'm a new homeowner and don't know what rights I have, or avenues I can/ should look into for this.
I feel like crap and really guilty that this is my fault for hiring these guys and now might have loss of property value. I'm just trying my best and have tried to make thoughtful, informed decisions every step of the way. Thanks in advance for any advice.
Posted May 13, 2026, 6:26 PM UTC