"Katy" on a mailing address covers far more ground than the City of Katy. The small city sits where Harris, Fort Bend and Waller counties meet, and the ring of subdivisions around it stretches along I-10 and the Grand Parkway. Before anyone touches a tree, it helps to know which side of that line you live on, what the prairie soil is doing to your trees, and who hauls the branches away.
Searching for tree service in Katy, TX brings up dozens of results. This number works differently. Tree Service Houston TX is a free call, not a crew: dial (346) 680-8916, tell the automated assistant your subdivision or ZIP and what the tree is doing, and you are transferred to an independent, locally owned company that serves the Katy area. That company inspects the tree, prices the job itself and does the work.
City of Katy, or just a Katy address?
The City of Katy is about 30 miles west of downtown Houston. It was incorporated in 1945, had 21,894 residents at the 2020 census, and is roughly centered on the point where Harris, Fort Bend and Waller counties touch. A tree job inside those city limits follows city rules and city trash service.
Much of what people call Katy is outside the city. Cinco Ranch, one of the largest planned communities on the west side, lies in Houston's extraterritorial jurisdiction in Fort Bend and Harris counties, with its own residential associations. In those areas no city tree permit applies to your yard; the deed restrictions and architectural rules of your HOA usually do, and county right of way runs along the roads. Cane Island, by contrast, was approved as the city's first master planned community inside its own boundaries, on land between Highway 90 and Morton Road.
Inside city limits
- Trees on city right of way are maintained by Katy Public Works, which trims low limbs over roadways.
- Questions go to Public Works at 281-391-4820.
- A draft landscape ordinance reviewed in August 2025 would protect large trees; ask the city about its status.
- Limb pickup comes through the city and its trash hauler.
Outside city limits
- County roads and their right of way fall to Harris, Fort Bend or Waller County.
- HOA deed restrictions often cover tree removal, replacement and limbs over sidewalks.
- Common area and lake edge trees belong to the HOA or MUD, not to you.
- Trash and brush pickup follows your HOA or MUD's contract.
The draft tree rules Katy has been weighing
At a special city council meeting on August 25, 2025, Katy's city planner presented a draft landscape ordinance about a year and a half in the making. Community Impact reported these proposals.
- 25 inchesTrunk circumference above which trees in the Old Katy District would be preserved
- 60 inchesCircumference above which trees elsewhere in city limits would be preserved
- $10,000Top fee proposed per removed tree of 36 inches circumference or more, along with replacement requirements
At the time of that report, no date had been set for a vote. If you live inside the city and are thinking about removing a big tree, especially near Old Town, call Public Works first and ask what is in force today.
Trees on old prairie ground
Katy grew up on the Katy Prairie, a coastal grassland that once covered about 1,000 square miles. Its flat land held water so well that rice farmers came, and rice became the area's main crop. Katy's concrete rice dryers, among the first built in Texas in the 1940s, still stand as landmarks.
That history matters to your trees. The USDA describes the soil named for the town, the Katy series, as very deep loamy soil that is only moderately well drained and lets water through slowly, on nearly level coastal prairie. Flat ground and slow drainage mean roots can sit in wet soil after heavy rain, and a shallow root system is easier for wind to tip.
Where conservation groups are putting trees back on the Katy Prairie, they have chosen natives that cope with those conditions, such as live oak, yaupon holly and southern wax myrtle. In a subdivision yard, the questions to ask about any big tree are the same: is the ground around it staying soggy, is it leaning, and has it been through a flood?
What Harvey, Beryl and the freeze left behind
In August 2017, Hurricane Harvey's water pooled behind Barker Reservoir, and released water from the reservoir flowed into thousands of homes in parts of Cinco Ranch, Kelliwood and Canyon Gate. Many of those houses were not in a mapped flood zone; they sat in the reservoir's flood pool. Texas A&M Forest Service teams later found that trees standing in long floodwater on Houston's west side could look fine in spring and decline as summer arrived. If your trees stood in water then, their health is worth a look today.
On July 8, 2024, Hurricane Beryl's winds swept across the Katy area, bringing down limbs, damaging roofs and flooding streets. The City of Katy started large debris collection on July 16 and ran it weekdays until every area was cleared. Across the region, Texas A&M Forest Service estimated that half of the urban tree cover took hurricane force winds. The February 2021 freeze added another layer of stress: the Forest Service reported that many oaks were slow to recover, with live oaks among the hardest hit.
The lesson for a Katy homeowner is to look at each big tree's history. A live oak that sat in water in 2017, lost leaves in 2021 and shed limbs in 2024 deserves a careful inspection before hurricane season opens on June 1.
Limbs, bundles and the quarterly pickup
Inside the City of Katy, the regular trash hauler takes small brush on collection day if it is tied in bundles: branches under 2 inches across, cut to 4 foot lengths, each bundle under 40 pounds. Yard debris is limited to 15 bags of no more than 35 pounds each, and up to 4 cubic yards a service day.
For bigger wood, Public Works runs a quarterly limb pickup. The city's notices ask for limbs about 2 to 6 inches in diameter and no longer than 12 feet, stacked in the yard by the curb before the first pickup day. Keep them out of the street, and away from water meters, gas meters, hydrants and ditches. Large trunks and stove wood are not part of the program. Because rules and dates change, check the city's latest notice or call Public Works.
A full removal usually makes more wood than any of those options will take, so ask the company whether hauling is part of its price. Outside the city, HOAs and MUDs set their own pickup rules.
Wires overhead and underground
CenterPoint Energy delivers electricity in Katy, whichever retail provider you buy from, and runs a service center on Highway Blvd in Katy. CenterPoint's contract crews trim trees near its poles and distribution lines. The wire from the pole to your house, the service drop, is a different matter: CenterPoint's service standards put that clearance on the customer, and the work belongs to a company qualified to work near energized lines.
Not every property with a Katy address is on CenterPoint's wires. San Bernard Electric Cooperative serves parts of Waller County, so if you live on rural ground toward that side, check the utility named on your electric bill before you assume who trims near your lines.
Never cut near a line yourself. If a limb has brought a line down, stay back, keep children and pets away, and call 911 and CenterPoint at 713-207-2222.
Jobs Katy callers ask about most
- Trimming. Lifting live oak limbs off roofs and sidewalks, thinning crowded crowns before storm season, and cleaning out dead wood. The tree trimming in Katy page covers timing, HOA clearance and debris.
- Removal. A tree that died after a flood or freeze, one that has outgrown a small lot, or one leaning toward the house. See tree removal.
- Storm cleanup. Limbs on fences, roofs and cars after a Gulf storm or a spring squall line. See emergency tree removal.
- Stumps and debris. Grinding what is left and hauling the wood the curb cannot take. See stump grinding and debris removal.
General guidance on cuts and timing is on the main tree trimming page, and every other town with a page is listed on service areas.
Before you say yes to a quote
People search for Katy tree service reviews and prices for good reason. Reviews show how a company treats customers; paperwork shows whether you are protected if something goes wrong on your property.
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).
Give the assistant your subdivision or ZIP, from Old Town to Cinco Ranch or Cane Island, and describe the tree. The company you reach looks at it and gives its own price before any work starts.
How a Katy 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.