Calling about a tree goes faster when you can name the job in a sentence. This page sorts every tree service in Houston that the line covers into three groups: taking trees down, keeping trees healthy, and cleaning up afterward. Each one has a short description of what makes it different and a link to its own page.
Tree Service Houston TX does not send anyone to your house. Call (346) 680-8916, tell the automated assistant what the tree is doing and where you are, and your call is transferred to an independent, locally owned tree company that works in your part of the Houston area. If you are not sure which service fits, describe what you see. That is enough.
Which service do I need?
Start with what you see from the ground. If two rows fit, mention both on the call.
| What you are looking at | Usually starts with |
|---|---|
| A tree or large limb is on the roof, a car, the fence or the street now | Emergency and storm tree removal |
| A dead, leaning or unwanted tree has to come down | Tree removal |
| A big tree leans over the house with no room to lower pieces | Crane tree removal |
| Limbs rub the roof, hang over the driveway or crowd the line to the house | Tree trimming |
| A young tree or a large live oak you want to keep in good shape for decades | Tree pruning |
| Thin leaves, mushrooms at the base, a crack or a sudden lean | Arborist assessment |
| Old stumps in the lawn or flower beds | Stump grinding |
| A building lot, fence line or wooded acreage to open up | Land and lot clearing |
| Piles of limbs and logs too big for curbside pickup | Tree debris removal and hauling |
Removal jobs: when the tree comes down
Three services take a tree out of the picture. What separates them is urgency and access, not the size of the tree alone.
Tree removal
Planned removal of a tree that is dead, dying, leaning, too close to the foundation or simply unwanted. Near a house, the company usually takes the tree down in sections and lowers each piece on ropes instead of dropping it whole. This is what most people mean by tree cutting services in Houston, and it is the job where the written scope matters most: whether the quote covers the stump, the logs and the brush.
Emergency and storm tree removal
The same work under pressure, after a tree has already failed. A trunk resting on a roof is loaded with tension and can shift as it is cut, so this is never a job for a homeowner with a saw. Your part is to keep people back, photograph the damage for your insurer, and call 911 if a line is down or anyone is hurt. If the tree touches a CenterPoint line, the utility has to make it safe first.
Crane tree removal
For a large tree hanging over a roof, a pool or a neighbor's house where there is no safe place to lower pieces, a crane lifts each cut section up and over the house and sets it down in the street or driveway. It needs room for the crane to set up, so mention on the call how wide your street is and whether the driveway is open.
Care and trimming: keeping a tree you want to keep
Most Houston yards have at least one tree worth saving. These three services are about keeping it safe and healthy rather than taking it out.
Tree trimming
Clearance and cleanup on grown trees: limbs off the roof and gutters, branches lifted over the driveway and sidewalk, dead wood removed before it falls. CenterPoint Energy trims around its own distribution lines, but the branches around the service drop to your house are yours to deal with.
Tree pruning
Planned cuts that guide how a tree grows, most valuable on young trees and on mature live oaks. It is about where and how each cut is made, so the tree closes the wound and keeps a strong structure. Topping and other heavy cutting is the opposite of good pruning.
Arborist assessment and tree care
A trained look at a tree's health and risk before you decide anything: decay, root damage, splits, disease, freeze or flood stress. It can lead to treatment, trimming, support hardware or removal. Treating a tree with pesticides for hire needs a Texas pesticide license, so ask about it.
Cleanup and ground work
These jobs happen at ground level, often after the cutting is done, and they are where quotes differ the most.
Stump grinding
A grinder chews the stump down below the soil line so grass can grow back over it. Ask how deep it goes, what happens to the pile of chips, and whether the company has buried utility lines marked before it grinds.
Land and lot clearing
Opening up a building lot, a fence line or wooded acreage, usually with a skid steer or a forestry mulcher. Before any trees go, check the rules for your city, your HOA or deed restrictions, and any trees on the street right of way.
Tree debris removal
Hauling limbs, logs and storm debris. In the City of Houston, tree waste goes to the curb in odd numbered months, up to 8 cubic yards per home. Anything bigger, or anything you need gone now, is a hauling job.
What every tree job in Houston has in common
Whatever you are calling about, a few things stay the same, and they protect you.
- The company looks at the tree and quotes before anything is cut. You decide whether to go ahead.
- Trees on city property, including street rights of way, need a City of Houston permit before anyone removes or trims them.
- Anything touching or near a power line is the utility's call first. For CenterPoint, the forestry team is at 713-207-2222.
- The quote should say what happens to the wood, the brush and the stump, in writing.
- You check the paperwork: insurance certificate, workers' compensation and arborist credentials.
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.
All tree services
Every service page explains the job in Houston terms, with the questions to ask and the sources behind each fact.
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.
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.
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.
Land and Lot Clearing
Clearing a building lot, a fence line or wooded acreage north and west of Houston, mulching versus hauling, and the rules that apply first.
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 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.
Before you call, these guides answer the questions most people have about cost and rules:
Guides
- Tree Removal Cost in Houston
- Tree Trimming Cost in Houston
- Houston Tree Removal Permits and Rules
- Will the City Remove a Tree? Who Pays
The line takes calls across greater Houston: