Tree Removal in Orlando, FL

Tree removal on an Orlando lot usually means working over something fragile. A screened pool enclosure, a lanai roof, a fence line shared with the neighbor or an overhead service drop sits under most of the trees we take down, so very few of them can simply be felled. Instead, a climber or a lift removes limbs from the top down, heavy pieces are lowered on ropes, and the trunk comes down in sections. How a tree comes down, and what it costs, depends on that setting at least as much as on the height of the tree.

The trees we remove most often here

Laurel oaks top the list. UF/IFAS gives laurel oak a typical life span of 50 to 70 years, notes that the trunk tends to hollow as it nears 50, and ranks it among the least wind-resistant trees in the Southeastern Coastal Plain. Water oak and sand pine rank low as well. Pines are the other big group: they often look fine right after a storm and then decline over the following months. After Hurricane Charley, UF researchers found that 27% of standing slash pines and 48% of standing longleaf pines in the areas they studied were dead three months later. Queen palms that have declined or rotted at the base are the third common call.

Signs a tree should come out

• Mushrooms or conks at the base of an oak, or a soft, hollow-sounding trunk
• A pine browning from the top down, or pitch streaming from many small holes in the bark
• A fresh lean with cracked or raised soil on the opposite side
• Large dead limbs over the roof, driveway or pool
• A split between two trunks of similar size
• A palm with a shrinking, pencil-thin crown or rot at the base

Some of these call for removal; others can be handled with pruning. We explain which, tree by tree.

Permits inside city limits

The City of Orlando regulates tree removal so that only unhealthy, dead, hazardous or problematic trees come out. For residential property, the city lists a $25 application fee and inspects the tree within about three business days after the application is complete; you mark the tree so the city arborist can find it. A permit is not required if you have a report from an ISA TRAQ-qualified arborist or a Florida-licensed landscape architect confirming the tree is dangerous, and state law (Florida Statutes section 163.045) bars local governments from requiring replanting in that case. If a permit does call for a replacement tree, the city expects it planted within 60 days. Many Orlando mailing addresses are outside city limits, so we check that first.

Where the wood goes

Orlando's weekly yard waste pickup takes small bundled branches, not the output of a tree removal, and contractor waste is excluded. Your quote spells out whether we chip and haul everything, leave logs for firewood or chips for mulch, and whether the stump is ground the same day.