Baytown sits where the San Jacinto River and Buffalo Bayou meet Galveston Bay, with its older streets in southeastern Harris County and its newer edge reaching into western Chambers County. Looking for tree service in Baytown means working with city brush routes, a resident drop-off yard, CenterPoint wires and soil that holds water after every big rain.
This is a phone number, not a tree company. Nobody from this line climbs, cuts or quotes. When you call (346) 680-8916, an automated assistant takes down your name, number, ZIP and what the tree is doing, then hands the call to an independent, locally owned company that serves Baytown. That company sees the tree and sets its own price.
- Two countiesSoutheastern Harris and western Chambers
- WiresCenterPoint Energy delivers power across the city
- BrushPicked up by zone, one week each month
- Drop-offThe Green Center takes limbs from residents
Three oil towns that became one city
The Handbook of Texas traces Baytown to three neighbors: Goose Creek, Pelly and the original Baytown, which grew up around the Humble Oil refinery after 1919. The Goose Creek field beside Tabbs Bay became famous in 1916 as the first offshore drilling in Texas, and residents voted to join the three communities as one city in January 1948.
That history means Baytown mixes neighborhoods of very different ages. An established area like Lakewood, whose civic club keeps residents posted on garbage and brush service, has trees that have been growing for generations, while a newly built lot may have little more than the trees the builder planted. The work, and the equipment a company brings, changes with that.
If your home is in a subdivision with deed restrictions, read them before a removal. Many associations say what can be planted, cut or left at the curb, and a tree company will not know your HOA's rules unless you tell it.
Getting limbs off your lawn in Baytown
A trim or removal leaves a pile. Inside city limits, there are two ways to get rid of it besides paying for hauling.
- Find your brush weekThe city splits Baytown into four brush zones. Zone 1 is collected the week of the first Monday of the month, Zone 2 the second, Zone 3 the third and Zone 4 the fourth. The city's map shows your zone.
- Cut and stack it rightTree limbs have to be 8 feet long or shorter. Shrubbery is fine; bagged leaves, lumber, other wood and plastic must stay out of the pile. Keep it from hanging over the curb or the sidewalk.
- Set it out on timeBrush has to be at the curb in front of your home by 7:00 a.m. on the Monday of your collection week. City crews will not pick up debris from private property, so it has to be by the curb.
- Or haul it to the Green CenterThe Green Center takes brush and tree limbs from Baytown residents only. Bring proof that you live in Baytown; the city lists what it accepts. Listed hours are Tuesday to Friday from noon to 7 p.m. and Saturday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
A whole oak coming down makes far more wood than one curb pile should hold. Ask the company you hire whether chipping and hauling are in its price, or read about tree debris removal first. Questions about service go to Public Works and Engineering at 281-420-5300, weekdays 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
City trees, your trees and CenterPoint's wires
Before anyone starts a saw, sort out who the tree belongs to. Baytown keeps it simple: trees on private property are the owner's or landlord's job, and trees on public property, along streets or in parks, are the city's. The city says its Public Works crews trim city trees that are due for maintenance, working weekends to keep up.
| The tree or limb | Whose job | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| On your own lot, needing a trim or removal | The owner or landlord | Hire a company; call the line to be put through to one |
| Along a street or in a city park | City of Baytown | Service request to Public Works and Engineering, 281-420-5300, or the Better Baytown app |
| Resting on or growing into power lines | The electric delivery company | Report it to CenterPoint Energy; keep clear |
| A line on the ground or sparking | Emergency services | Call 911 and stay well back |
The Baytown Economic Development Foundation lists CenterPoint Energy as the electric delivery company for both the City of Baytown and Chambers County. You pick a retail plan, but CenterPoint owns the poles and wires. CenterPoint's contract crews trim trees near its distribution lines, and its forestry team takes calls at 713-207-2222. Branches around the service drop to your own house are generally yours to have trimmed, by a company that knows how to work near energized lines.
One thing that catches Baytown homeowners off guard: when a utility's tree crew cuts a dead tree that threatens its equipment, CenterPoint told the Houston Chronicle it does not take responsibility for the wood left on site. Plan for that before the crew shows up.
Low ground, record rain and a long Beryl cleanup
Baytown's relationship with water explains a lot about its trees. Brownwood, a waterfront subdivision built in 1937 by Humble Oil executives on the shores of Burnet, Crystal and Scott Bays, sank as groundwater pumping compacted the clay beneath it. By the time Hurricane Alicia arrived, the subdivision had sunk roughly 10 feet, and Alicia's storm tide nearly wiped it out in 1983. The land is now the Baytown Nature Center.
In August 2017, Hurricane Harvey dropped 51.88 inches of rain on a gauge at Cedar Bayou near Mont Belvieu, which the National Weather Service called a record for the continental United States at the time. Then in July 2024, Hurricane Beryl left the city with so many fallen limbs that its debris contractor compared the amount to what a Category 3 storm would bring. By August 9, city crews and the contractor had hauled 1,415 loads, about 64,594 cubic yards, and expected the work to take months.
After a storm, do
- Keep people and pets away from fallen limbs that touch wires
- Call 911 if a line is down or someone is hurt
- Photograph damage to the house, fence and car for insurance
- Stack storm limbs at the curb, away from drains and hydrants
After a storm, do not
- Move or cut anything tangled in a power line
- Climb into a split or hanging tree to free a limb
- Park under a cracked limb that is still attached
- Mix lumber or bagged trash into a vegetation pile
A big tree leaning toward the house on soggy ground deserves a look before the next storm season, and an arborist assessment is one way to get it. The hurricane tree prep guide covers what to look for, and emergency tree removal explains what happens when a tree is already down.
Clay soil, shaded trails and free native trees
The USDA describes one of the clay soil series common on the Texas coastal plain, formed in clayey sediments, as very deep, poorly drained and very slowly permeable. Heavy clay like that holds water long after a downpour. After Hurricane Beryl, reporting on why so many Houston-area trees fell pointed to saturated soil and shallow roots, so a tree that looks sound in a dry month can lose its grip when the ground is soaked and the wind picks up.
You can see Baytown's bigger trees along its trails. The Goose Creek Trail runs 6.25 miles along Goose Creek and Tabbs Bay through marsh, prairie and woods. At W.L. Jenkins Park on Crosby Cedar Bayou Road, the Cary Bayou Trail heads over the bayou and into the park forest.
The city also gives trees away. For Arbor Day in April 2025, the Parks and Recreation Department handed out free native trees, two per household, at the Eddie V. Gray Wetlands Center on Market Street. Giveaways have included small natives such as American beautyberry, the kind of tree that suits a yard better than a giant planted too close to a roof.
What Baytown callers ask the line for
Most calls fall into a handful of jobs. Baytown tree removal is the big one, from a pine leaning over the garage to an oak that never recovered from a storm; the tree removal page explains how those jobs are planned, and the removal cost guide covers published price ranges. Tree trimming keeps limbs off roofs and away from the service drop, and stump grinding finishes the job once the trunk is gone.
Whatever the job, check the company before it starts. Texas does not license tree trimming or removal, so the documents you ask for are your protection.
Check the company yourself. Texas has no state license for tree trimming or tree removal, so a business card proves very little. Ask the company for a certificate of general liability insurance sent by its insurance agent, proof of workers' compensation coverage, and the ISA certification number of its arborist. A company that sprays or injects trees for hire needs a pesticide license from the Texas Department of Agriculture or its Structural Pest Control Service. You can confirm a certification with the ISA's credential lookup (opens in a new tab).
Describe the tree and your Baytown street or ZIP. The company you are put through to comes out, looks at it and gives its own price before any cutting starts.
What happens when you call from Baytown
- Call any hourAn automated assistant answers (346) 680-8916 and asks what kind of tree work you need.
- Describe the jobGive your name, a callback number, your city or ZIP and what the tree is doing, including anything on a roof, a car or a line.
- Get put throughThe call goes to an independent, locally owned tree service company, which hears a short summary before it picks up.
- Deal with them directlyThat company looks at the tree, quotes, does the work and is paid by you. If it cannot answer, it gets your details to call back.
How this line works: Tree Service Houston TX is a free phone line, not a tree service company. It does not trim, remove, quote or schedule tree work and holds no license or arborist certification. Calls are transferred to independent, locally owned tree service companies in the Houston area. Those companies may pay Tree Service Houston TX a referral fee. You never pay the line. How it works.
Related services
- Tree Removal
- Tree Trimming
- Emergency and Storm Tree Removal
- Tree Debris Removal and Hauling
- Stump Grinding and Removal
- Arborist Assessment and Tree Care
- Hurricane Season Tree Prep
- Tree Removal Cost in Houston
Other towns near the bay
Every town around Houston handles brush, permits and wires its own way. The service areas page lists them all.