Searching for tree service in Houston, Texas, pulls up companies from the whole region. This page is about the City of Houston itself: the neighborhoods inside city limits, the trees that shade them, the city rules for trees by the street, and the utility and trash details that shape how a tree job is planned here.
Tree Service Houston TX does not trim or remove trees. It is a free phone line. Call (346) 680-8916, tell the automated assistant your neighborhood or ZIP and what the tree is doing, and your call is transferred to an independent, locally owned tree service company that works in the city. That company looks at the tree, gives you its own price and does the work.
A city with millions of trees, most of them in back yards
A U.S. Forest Service study of the City of Houston's urban forest counted an estimated 33.3 million live trees, with tree canopy covering 18.4 percent of the city. About 19.2 million of those trees stand on private land. In other words, most of Houston's tree canopy is looked after, or not, by the people who own the yards it grows in.
The same study found the most common species citywide were not the shade trees people picture. Yaupon, Chinese tallow, Chinese privet, Japanese privet and sugarberry topped the count, many of them small trees and volunteers along fences and ditches. The big trees that drive most tree service calls are the live oaks, water oaks, pecans and loblolly pines that tower over roofs and streets, along with the crape myrtles planted by the thousands in front yards.
Trees for Houston, a nonprofit founded in 1983 to plant, protect and promote trees, says it has planted more than 700,000 trees in Houston and the surrounding area, many of them along streets and in public spaces.
Neighborhoods, and what to know about each
Houston is a city of very different neighborhoods, and the tree work changes with them. A few that callers mention often:
- Houston Heights. Laid out in the 1890s around Heights Boulevard and its 60 foot wide esplanade, which the city's Parks and Recreation Department maintains with Houston Heights Association volunteers. The association planted more than 300 curb live oaks on the boulevard in 1986 and hundreds more trees in a 2003 beautification project. Trees on that esplanade and other city property need a city permit before anyone trims or removes them. For tree removal or tree trimming in the Heights on private lots, older bungalows on narrow lots often mean tight access for trucks and chippers, so mention it on the call.
- Montrose and River Oaks. Inner loop neighborhoods with mature trees over older homes, where limbs over roofs and service drops are common jobs.
- Meyerland and Memorial. Meyerland sits along Brays Bayou and Memorial along Buffalo Bayou, and both have big, old shade trees over the houses. Note that several small cities near Memorial, such as Hilshire Village, are separate from Houston and publish their own tree ordinances, so a Memorial address is not always a City of Houston address.
- West Houston. For tree service in west Houston, keep Harvey in mind. Harris County's Bear Creek Park, on the west side, sat under about four feet of water for months after the storm, and Texas A&M Forest Service teams found trees there looking fine in spring and dying back as summer came. The Westchase District reported mature trees lost to the February 2021 freeze as well.
- Kingwood and Clear Lake. Kingwood in the far northeast and Clear Lake to the southeast, toward Galveston Bay, are a long drive from downtown but inside city limits, so the City of Houston's rules and services apply there too.
Who handles which tree problem in Houston
Before you hire anyone, figure out whose tree it is and whose wires it touches. This table covers the usual cases inside city limits.
| Situation | Who handles it | How to reach them |
|---|---|---|
| A tree on your own lot needs trimming or removal | You, through a tree company you hire | Call the free line to be put through to a local company |
| A dead or hazardous tree on the street right of way | City of Houston Urban Forestry | 311, or 713-837-0311 |
| You want a city tree by the street removed or trimmed | Permit from the city first (PRD1001) | Houston Permitting Center; Parks and Recreation, 901 Bagby Street |
| Someone is cutting down street trees with no posted permit | Urban Park Rangers | 832-395-7100, answered 24 hours a day |
| Limbs near CenterPoint poles and distribution wires | CenterPoint Energy | Forestry team, 713-207-2222 |
| Branches around the service drop to your house | The homeowner | A tree company, after confirming with CenterPoint what is safe |
| A line is down, sparking or lying on a tree | Emergency services and the utility | 911, then stay well away |
The city tree permit, in plain terms
The City of Houston's Tree Removal/Tree Trimming Permit, listed by the Houston Permitting Center as PRD1001, is required to remove any tree on city property, which includes trees planted on rights of way, medians, parks and other city property, or on a setback. Its main points:
- Plan review and an inspection are required.
- Processing takes about 10 business days, and the permit is valid for one year.
- Fees vary with the size and location of the tree.
- The permit has to be kept on site and publicly posted 20 days before the removal or trimming.
- The Parks and Recreation Department's office is at 901 Bagby Street, 1st Floor.
A tree near the curb may stand on the city right of way rather than on your lot, even if you mow under it. Ask the company you hire to confirm the property line and handle or explain any permit before work starts. The permit guide covers the rules, including the Texas law on tree mitigation fees.
Storms that shaped Houston's canopy
Ask anyone who has lived here a while and they can name the storm that took their favorite tree. Five stand out in recent memory.
| Event | What happened to trees |
|---|---|
| Hurricane Ike, September 2008 | Winds felled trees onto lines, houses and cars; about 2.15 million of CenterPoint's 2.26 million customers lost power. |
| Hurricane Harvey, August 2017 | Damage came mainly from prolonged flooding; trees in flooded areas weakened and died back months afterward. |
| Winter Storm Uri, February 2021 | Temperatures fell to 13 degrees at Bush Intercontinental; many oaks were slow to leaf out, with live oaks among the most stressed. |
| Derecho, May 16, 2024 | Gusts estimated up to 100 mph knocked over trees, power lines and transmission towers; about 800,000 customers in the metro lost power. |
| Hurricane Beryl, July 8, 2024 | Texas A&M Forest Service estimated hurricane force winds hit 50 percent of the urbanized area's tree cover; more than 2.2 million homes and businesses lost power, many outages caused by fallen trees. |
Reporting after Beryl pointed to a pattern: shallow root systems in oaks and pines, saturated soil, and limbs already weakened by drought. Some of the trees that went over were young oaks planted along streets after Ike that had not yet rooted deeply. A Texas A&M Forest Service regional forester tied the damage partly to the stress Houston trees carried from Uri and the dry summers of 2022 and 2023. The practical lesson is that a tree's history matters. If a big tree near the house came through a flood, a freeze or a drought looking rough, have it checked before the next storm season starts on June 1.
Lines, pickup days and crape myrtles
Three Houston details that change how a tree job is planned and what it costs.
CenterPoint lines
CenterPoint has contract crews trim trees near its distribution poles and wires. After storm restoration, property owners are responsible for clearing the debris from fallen or broken trees. Branches near the service drop to your house are yours to have trimmed.
Tree waste pickup
City Solid Waste customers can set out clean tree waste, meaning limbs, branches and stumps, in odd numbered months, up to 8 cubic yards per home. The city also runs neighborhood depositories for tree waste. A big removal often makes more than one pickup can take, so ask whether hauling is in the quote.
Crape myrtles
Cutting crape myrtles back to stubs each winter, often called crape murder, is not recommended by horticulturists. Topping leaves weak limbs and knobby scars. Proper care means removing suckers and crossing or rubbing branches, or replacing a tree that has outgrown its spot.
Why Houston callers use the line
There is no shortage of tree companies in Houston. These are the reasons people call this number instead of working down a list of search results.
- Houston is bigThe city runs from Kingwood to Clear Lake. Giving a ZIP to one number gets you a company that works in your part of it, not one across town.
- Trees fall at nightStorms do not wait for office hours. The assistant answers 24 hours a day, every day, and if a company cannot pick up, it gets your details to call back.
- One call covers every jobRemoval, trimming, a crane job, a stump or a pile of storm debris all go through the same number, so you do not have to know the right trade first.
- It costs you nothingThe call and the connection are free. Any price comes from the company, after it sees the tree, and you decide whether to go ahead.
Before any work starts, check the company yourself. Texas does not license tree trimming or removal, so the paperwork you ask for is what protects you.
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).
Not sure what the tree needs? Call and describe it. The company you are put through to looks at the tree and tells you the price before any work starts.
Tree work Houston homes call about most
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.
Stump Grinding and Removal
Grinding a stump below the lawn, what happens to the roots and chips, utility locates and when full stump removal is worth it.
Tree Debris Removal and Hauling
Hauling limbs, logs and storm debris, what curbside tree waste pickup takes, and when to have the tree company haul it instead.
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 Houston 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.
Guides for Houston homeowners
- Houston Tree Removal Permits and Rules
- Will the City Remove a Tree? Who Pays
- When to Trim Trees in Houston
- Hurricane Season Tree Prep
Outside the city limits
Suburbs set their own rules, and many are served by a different utility or trash hauler. Each has its own page, and some have pages for a single job: tree removal in Spring, Cypress and Humble, and tree trimming in Katy, Sugar Land, Spring, Cypress and Pasadena.