Blanco, Texas · Blanco County
Tree removal in Blanco
Blanco River headwaters country. Hard limestone, hard-earned trees.
Blanco regulates removals from the ground up — assume you need to ask before anything comes down.
About 40 minutes from me in Kyle. Whatever the answer turns out to be, it is a form and a measurement rather than a refusal — these get approved all the time. Call me and I’ll tell you where you stand.
What Blanco actually regulates
Some of the thinnest soil I work in. The big live oaks out here are genuinely old and genuinely tough, and they don't tolerate heavy pruning. Deadwood and clearance only, in most cases.
6 inches in diameter and up
6 inches DBH or more — a permit applies, but check the homeowner exemption first.
Blanco protects a tree at 6 inches DBH, but if you own the home and you're the one removing it — or directing the removal — from your own residential lot, the ordinance exempts you outright. Hackberry, Mesquite and Ash Juniper are exempt at any size, no matter who owns the lot.
Under the threshold
Not regulated
Under 6 inches DBH — below Blanco's protected threshold.
Blanco's protected-tree provisions start at 6 inches DBH, measured at 4.5 feet.
The ordinance, in its own words
It is an exception to the requirement of this section that the tree was removed from a residential lot by or at the direction of the homeowner residing on the property. It is an exception to the requirement of this section that the tree removed is a Hackberry, Mesquite or Ash Juniper.
Source: City of Blanco — Subdivision & Land Development Regs § 5.11-5. This is a reading of the code, not legal advice and not the city’s own determination. Ordinances change.
Everything else the Blanco code attaches
- How it's measured
- DBH — diameter at breast height, 4.5 feet above ground. Protected starts at 6 inches, or 3 inches for a canopy-plan tree.
- What's exempt
- Three stated exceptions: the tree is removed from a residential lot by or at the direction of the homeowner who lives there; the tree is a Hackberry, Mesquite or Ash Juniper; or it's a smaller tree planted under an approved canopy plan and hasn't reached 6 inches DBH yet.
- Where it's written
- Subdivision & Land Development regulations, § 5.11-5, Permit Required for Removal of Protected Tree.
- Who to call
- City of Blanco
Check your own tree against Blanco’s rule
Permit checker
Measure it, then check it
Pick Blanco, put the trunk measurement in, and it will show you exactly which band you are in and what the code says about it.
How a removal actually goes in Blanco
Ranch country and small-town lots, room to work but long carries. Forty minutes from Kyle. Ranch and acreage country either side of 281 along the Blanco River, forty minutes out. Good room to work once you're through the gate, but long driveways and cattle guards, so I'd rather batch it with other work out west.
Everything gets hauled away and the ground raked off behind us. Want the logs kept for firewood? Say so before we start and my crew will cut them to length and stack them rather than running them through the chipper.
The trees I get called about here
Some of the thinnest soil I work in — hard limestone with live oak, ashe juniper and Texas red oak on it, plus cypress and pecan down along the Blanco River. The big upland live oaks are genuinely old and genuinely tough, and they do not tolerate heavy pruning. Deadwood and clearance only, in most cases. Some of the thinnest soil I work on anywhere. The upland live oaks here are genuinely old, genuinely tough, and completely intolerant of heavy pruning — they haven't got the reserves to rebuild a canopy you take a quarter off. Deadwood and clearance, and not much else, is the honest prescription on most Blanco oaks. There's Texas red oak in the draws where there's a bit more moisture, and those are the ones to watch for oak wilt, since red oaks are what build the fungal mats.
Before you decide to remove it
A mature live oak took fifty years to reach that size and I can take it down in a morning. Neither of us can put it back. So the first thing I want to know is whether it actually needs to go — a tree that looks finished is quite often a tree that needs the deadwood out of it and nothing more. Here’s how to tell the difference, and here’s the risk check if you want to work it through yourself.
If it does need to come out, the permit side is the easy part. The rules for every town I’ve read are here, and here’s everything else I do in Blanco.
Questions I get asked
Do I need a permit to remove a tree in Blanco?
It depends on the trunk size. It is an exception to the requirement of this section that the tree was removed from a residential lot by or at the direction of the homeowner residing on the property. It is an exception to the requirement of this section that the tree rem… That is City of Blanco — Subdivision & Land Development Regs § 5.11-5, and it is quoted in full further down this page.
How do I measure my tree for Blanco's rules?
Put a tape around the trunk 4.5 feet above the ground to get the circumference, then divide by 3.14 for the diameter. Blanco writes its rule in inches in diameter. If the trunk splits into several stems below 4.5 feet, measure below the split — that usually puts you in a higher bracket than you expected.
What if the tree is dead or dangerous?
Most ordinances around here treat a dead, diseased or genuinely hazardous tree differently from a healthy one somebody would simply rather not have, and a written assessment from a Certified Arborist is usually what the city wants to see. There is one on my crew. Get the condition documented before you file anything, not after.
How much does tree removal cost in Blanco?
Access is the biggest driver, ahead of size — whether there is a drop zone or whether every piece has to be roped out over a roof is the difference between a morning and a full day. Then trunk diameter, then lean and deadwood. Send me a photo and the circumference and I can usually price it from that.
Got a tree in Blanco you’re not sure about?
Text me a photo and the measurement round the trunk. I’ll tell you which side of the line it’s on and what it takes to get it done.
Same-day callback on estimates
Call or text before 5pm on a weekday and you'll hear back from me the same day. Not an answering service — me.