Friendswood is a city where big trees are part of the address. Many of its yards are shaded by mature oaks and pines, and Clear Creek runs through the city. If you are looking for tree service in Friendswood, the details below cover what is different about trees in this town, from the utility on your pole to the way the city collects branches.
One thing first: the number on this site belongs to a free referral line, not to anyone who climbs trees. Call (346) 680-8916, say you are in Friendswood and describe the tree, and an automated assistant transfers you to an independent, locally owned company. That company inspects, quotes, does the work and bills you itself.
A Quaker colony that kept its trees
Friendswood was founded in 1895 by a group of Quakers led by T. Hadley Lewis and Frank J. Brown, and the Galveston County Museum calls it the only permanent town in Texas that started as a Quaker colony. For decades it stayed a small farming community, known for growing and preserving Magnolia figs, before it incorporated as a city in 1960. By the 2020 census it had grown to 41,213 people.
The town sits in the northwest corner of Galveston County and also reaches into Harris County, with Clear Creek dividing the two. In a place that old, it is common to find yard trees that were growing long before the house beside them was built.
Older trees bring older tree problems. Wood decays where limbs broke years ago, roots get cut by driveway and drainage work, and a crown that was fine over a small house now hangs over a second story addition. Those are the jobs a Friendswood tree company sees week after week.
Two counties, and possibly two utilities
County lines
Friendswood lies in both Galveston and Harris counties, split by Clear Creek. For a tree on a home lot inside city limits, the city's own services and your HOA rules matter more day to day than which county you are in, so start with the city when you have a question about trees by the street.
Power delivery
TNMP lists Friendswood among the Gulf Coast cities it serves, and CenterPoint Energy lists Friendswood in its own service area. Your bill names the right one. That company prunes trees around its distribution lines; the branches around the drop to your house are generally yours to have trimmed by a qualified crew.
TNMP describes its program as pruning, and when appropriate removing, thousands of trees near its lines each year, with the schedule focused on places where outages are most likely. If a tree on your lot is growing into a TNMP or CenterPoint line, call the utility before hiring anyone. Line clearance work is specialized, and a private company may need the utility to cut the power first.
What Harvey taught Friendswood about trees
Hurricane Harvey in August 2017 produced 500 year flood conditions along Clear Creek from Pearland through Friendswood and into League City. More than 3,000 Friendswood homes flooded, and roughly 1,000 residents were rescued by boat. Trees that stood in that water carried the stress for a long time afterward.
- Wait for the water and the power crewsStay off flooded ground and away from any wire. If a line is down or someone is hurt, call 911 first.
- Photograph everythingTake pictures of fallen limbs, lifted roots and damage to the house or fence before anything is moved. Your insurer will ask.
- Watch for leaning and cracking soilA tree that starts to lean after floodwater recedes, or has soil heaving on one side, can fail without much warning. Keep people and cars clear of it.
- Get the tree looked at before next seasonDamage from saturated roots can show up as thinning or dieback months later. A professional assessment tells you whether to treat, trim or remove.
The city has kept working on Clear Creek since, including a flood control project of about $10 million. Drainage improvements help homes, but they do not undo the root damage a tree already took, so older flood survivors near the creek deserve a closer look.
Getting limbs to the curb in Friendswood
The City of Friendswood runs curbside garbage pickup twice a week and recycling and green waste pickup once a week, with collection between 7 a.m. and 6 p.m. The green waste rules are what matter for tree debris:
| Material | How to set it out |
|---|---|
| Tree limbs and branches | Cut, tied and bundled; each bundle up to 5 feet long, 18 inches in diameter and 50 pounds |
| Leaves, grass, small trimmings | Clear bags, each no heavier than 35 pounds |
| Timing | At the curb by 7 a.m. on your collection day |
| Questions about carts or service | City of Friendswood, 281-996-3232 |
Notice that these limits are a little different from neighboring cities, so do not go by what worked at a previous address. Trunks and large rounds from a removal will not fit a 50 pound bundle at all. Ask any company quoting a removal whether it chips the brush, hauls the logs and grinds the stump, or leaves some of that to you. The tree removal and stump grinding pages explain the usual options.
The city plants trees too
Friendswood treats trees as something worth adding, not just cleaning up after. Each January the city holds an Arbor Day tree giveaway for residents, who bring photo ID to pick up a tree while supplies last. Recent giveaways have included live oak, red oak, cedar elm, vitex and magnolia. The city also runs a Memorial Tree and Bench Program.
A free 15 gallon live oak is a fine start, but where it goes matters. Keep new shade trees well away from the foundation, the septic field and overhead lines, and plan for a crown that may one day spread wider than the house. Once it is established, a light structural prune in its first few years sets up a strong trunk and saves a much bigger bill later. The tree pruning page and the guide to when to trim explain timing for young oaks and other shade trees.
Hiring well in Friendswood
Friendswood's subdivisions range from newer sections such as West Ranch and Friendswood Lakes to older neighborhoods like Eagle Lakes and Falcon Ridge, where lots tend to be larger and trees bigger. Larger lots often mean access is easier for a bucket truck, but big old trees can also mean crane work near the house. Whichever applies, the hiring basics are the same.
Do
- Ask for a certificate of insurance sent straight from the insurer.
- Ask who on the job holds an ISA arborist certification, and check the number.
- Get the price, cleanup and stump plan in writing.
- Check HOA or deed restrictions before a tree in the front yard comes out.
Don't
- Pay the full amount up front to someone who knocked on the door after a storm.
- Let anyone work on a tree touching a power line before the utility is called.
- Agree to topping an oak or crape myrtle to make it "safer."
- Take on storm damaged limbs yourself; leave that work to a trained crew.
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).
Costs depend on the tree, the access and the cleanup. The trimming cost and removal cost guides show published ranges, and the company you reach will give its own price after seeing the tree.
Tree work Friendswood residents ask for
Tree Removal
Taking down a dead, leaning or unwanted tree near a Houston home, from water oaks and pines to big live oaks, and what a complete quote covers.
Tree Trimming
Getting limbs off the roof and away from the house, raising canopies over driveways and lightening heavy crowns before hurricane season.
Emergency and Storm Tree Removal
A tree on the house, the car or across the street after a hurricane, a derecho or a hard freeze. What to do first and how emergency work is handled.
Tree Pruning
Structural pruning for young trees and mature live oaks, what a proper cut looks like, oak wilt timing and why topping does harm.
Crane Tree Removal
When a crane is the safest way to take a large tree over a house, how the lift is planned, and what it needs in street and driveway space.
Arborist Assessment and Tree Care
A certified arborist's look at a tree's health and risk, diseases common around Houston, and how to check an arborist's credentials.
How a Friendswood call works
- 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.
Next door to the west is Pearland, and the full list of towns is on the service areas page.