Gutter Guards for Hudson Valley Hardwoods

Oaks do the most damage. Each spring they hang out catkins, the long male flowers that shed pollen and then drop, and each fall they let go of acorns and leaves. Peter Smallidge, the NYS Extension Forester at Cornell, writes that northern red oaks “have acorns that require two years to develop,” while “White oak acorns mature the year they form and will germinate that fall.” So a big oak feeds your gutters acorns from late summer through fall, and a white oak acorn left in wet debris is ready to put down a root right there.

Maples split their seed drop. Red maples flower before they leaf out and drop helicopters in late spring and early summer. Sugar maple samaras turn brown in the fall, and Norway maple seeds ripen in late summer and hang on into winter. Sycamores add leaves 4 to 8 inches wide and seed balls that ripen in November and come apart into fluffy seeds in late winter.

Sources: Peter Smallidge, Cornell Cooperative Extension, “Red and White Oak”; NYS DEC on hemlock woolly adelgid; Virginia Tech Dendrology.

Five kinds of debris, five different clogs

Every tree jams a gutter its own way. Maple helicopters and birch seeds are light and winged, so they drift into any opening and pile up at the outlet. Oak catkins land wet and stringy and lie flat in the trough. Acorns, walnuts in their husks and sycamore balls roll to the low end and plug the downspout. White pine needles knit into a mat, and half inch hemlock needles slip through gaps that stop most else. NYS DEC reports hemlock woolly adelgid was first found in the state “in 1985 in the lower Hudson Valley,” and infested hemlocks lose needles.

That mix is why a guard that copes with one sugar maple can fail under an oak and a hemlock. Nearly every guard turns away a flat leaf. What matters is what it does with seeds, catkins, short needles and husks, and the Guard Match below shows that style by style.

What neighbors under the hardwoods tell us

“They did an amazing job replacing our gutters and adding the leaf guards. They were professional, neat and very careful around all my plants. I highly recommend Brothers! A great company all around.”

Rosemarie Conti, Google review

“Brothers-Gutters are professional, courteous, and reliable. As we get older and second-story ladders are less manageable, it’s great having them clean and maintain our gutters. We look forward to working with them in the future. Thanks, B-G!”

Linda Harbuck, Google review

Linda’s review gets at the real point. Under big hardwoods a guard changes the chore rather than ending it: leaves and acorns still land on the roof, and a valley under an oak still gathers a pile. The right guard keeps that pile on top of the mesh, where a quick brush clears it, instead of packed into the trough and downspout, holding water into the first hard freeze.

Why our crews install BroGuard

We install one guard, and trees like these are the reason. Seeds, catkins, half inch hemlock needles, acorns and husks all have to stay out of the trough while rain and spring snowmelt still get in, and a coarse screen or a hood cannot do both. BroGuard is stainless micro-mesh with nothing that rots, crumbles or holds a maple seedling, it is fastened along the gutter, and it carries a limited lifetime warranty.

Crews fasten it run by run over gutters that have already been cleaned, flushed and checked for loose hangers, then put a hose on it so you can watch the water go through. On wooded lots from Rhinebeck to New Paltz to Beacon, a sound gutter under a fine mesh is what keeps leaves out of the downspouts going into winter.

Tree and seed timing: Virginia Tech Dendrology and Cornell Cooperative Extension, listed above.

Where micro-mesh still needs a hand

Better to hear it now than find out on a ladder. Mesh stops wet catkins and seed fluff at the surface, and on a shady north side that layer can sit until the next good rain. Valleys pour two roof slopes into one corner, and a big oak can pile leaves there faster than wind clears them. Snow sliding off the roof passes over a low mesh but can drag twigs and leaves along and leave them on top. Plan on a brush-off here and there in those corners, or let our maintenance program take care of it. Under a heavy oak or sycamore on the shaded side of a house, a Solutionist may set a separate check for that run so a mat never builds before the freeze. You can see why we stick with one guard on our gutter guards page.

Get guards on before the load you dread

I LOVE NY foliage spotters have reported peak color around Poughkeepsie in late October (October 24 in 2019, and October 27 in 2022 for Beacon and Hopewell Junction), and the heavy drop follows into mid November. Oaks are the stragglers and can hold dead leaves into winter. If fall leaves are your worst week, get a guard on by early October. If spring helicopters and catkins bother you more, aim for March. Late winter is a smart time to book, since one visit can clean, repair and guard before either rush.

Sources: I LOVE NY fall foliage reports for Dutchess County as carried by WGXC; Illinois Extension on oaks that hold leaves over winter; seed timing from Virginia Tech Dendrology. Work seasons are the ones our Hudson Valley crews keep.

1. Name the treesWe note what stands over each side: the oak by the driveway, the maple out front, the hemlocks along the back.
2. Check the guttersPitch, seams, hangers, valleys and every downspout, because a guard on a sagging run only hides the problem.
3. Get it in writingA written price for the guard we recommend on each side, with no pressure and nothing to sign that day.

Signs you are ready for guards

• You are on the ladder every spring and fall and the gutters are full again by winter.
• Maple or oak seedlings are growing along the gutter.
• Water pours over the front in a summer storm or a spring thaw.
• Acorns or walnut husks keep plugging the same downspout.
• Old screens are studded with helicopters and needles.
• Foam or brush inserts have gone black and spongy.

Seedlings in a gutter mean the trough has stayed full and wet for a while, and maples supply plenty of seed. New York Invasive Species Information says Norway maples “produce ample amounts of winged seed which are dispersed readily in the wind and germinate quickly.”

Source: New York Invasive Species Information, Norway maple.

If the gutters need work before a guard goes on, we take care of that first with a gutter cleaning or gutter repair. And before the leaves come down this fall, walk through our fall leaf and freeze gutter checklist to get the whole system ready for winter.