The questions Tampa homeowners actually ask us, answered straight. What things cost, when a tree has to come out, what the city allows, and what to do when one is already on the roof.
Most residential tree removals in the Tampa area run somewhere between $400 and $2,500. A small backyard tree with clear access sits at the bottom of that range; a large laurel oak leaning over a screened pool sits at the top or above it. Height, trunk diameter, what is underneath the tree, and how far the wood has to be carried to the truck decide where you land.
Full answer →Often, yes. Inside Tampa city limits, protected and grand trees generally require city review before a healthy specimen can be removed. Trees that are genuinely dead, dying or hazardous are treated differently. The rules are stricter inside the city than in unincorporated Hillsborough County, and Temple Terrace has its own separate ordinance.
Full answer →Four signs matter most: mushrooms or shelf fungus at the base, which usually means the roots are already rotting; a lean that is new, especially with soil heaving on the opposite side; large dead limbs in the upper canopy; and a crack where two main stems meet. Any one of those on a tree near a house is worth a professional look. A tree that has visibly moved is urgent.
Full answer →Late winter into early spring is the ideal window in the Tampa area: before the summer flush and well ahead of the June to November hurricane season. Proper thinning removes interior and crossing limbs so wind passes through the canopy instead of pushing against it. Deadwood and genuine hazards come out whenever you find them, season regardless.
Full answer →Generally, Florida policies cover removing a tree that has struck an insured structure such as your house, garage or fence, often up to a capped amount. A tree that simply falls in the yard and hits nothing is commonly not covered, and neither is removing a living tree you want gone. Your carrier decides, so photograph everything before it is moved and call them first.
Full answer →In Florida, when a healthy tree falls in a storm the damaged property owner normally claims on their own insurance, regardless of whose land the tree grew on. Responsibility shifts to the tree's owner when the tree was visibly hazardous and they were on notice and did nothing. This is general information, not legal advice.
Full answer →No. The hurricane cut, where everything is stripped back to a few fronds pointing straight up, removes the stored nutrients a palm lives on, invites potassium deficiency, and leaves the growing point less protected in high wind rather than more. A correct trim takes dead and dying fronds, spent flower stalks and seed pods, and leaves the healthy horizontal green fronds.
Full answer →Lethal bronzing is a bacterial disease that has been moving through the Tampa Bay area for years and it kills the palms it infects. The tell is the order of symptoms: premature fruit drop, then the spear leaf dies while older fronds are still green. There is no cure once a palm is symptomatic, and infected palms should be removed rather than left standing as a source of further spread.
Full answer →Grinding chews the stump down below ground level with a cutting wheel and leaves the roots to decay in place. Full removal excavates the stump and root ball out of the ground. Grinding costs a fraction as much, leaves your yard intact, and is the right choice for almost every residential job. Excavation is only worth it when something is being built over the exact spot.
Full answer →Get everyone out of the rooms under the impact and stay away from anything touching a wire, assuming every downed line is live. Photograph the damage from a safe distance before anything is moved. Call your insurer, then an emergency tree service. If the tree is on the primary power line, that is TECO's line and TECO's job, not a tree crew's.
Full answer →Dead, dying, leaning or badly placed trees taken down safely, including tight lots and trees over the house.
Limbs off the roof, canopies thinned before storm season, and structural pruning that actually helps the tree.
Stumps ground below grade so you can replant, lay sod, or just get your yard back.
Dead fronds, seed pods and coconuts off tall palms, cut properly rather than hurricane-cut.
Trees off roofs and driveways after a storm, by a local crew that charges the same rate in October as in April.
Fallen trees, split trunks and hanging limbs, any hour, any day.
Send a photo or call. We will tell you straight whether it needs doing, and the look costs nothing.