Georgetown, Texas · Williamson County
Tree removal in Georgetown
The far north edge of my radius. I'll come, but tell me early so I can batch the trip.
In Georgetown, a tree of about 26 inches in diameter or more is where the city gets involved. Below that you are generally clear to take it down.
About 50 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 Georgetown actually regulates
Georgetown's older neighborhoods around the square have a genuinely impressive mature canopy, and the San Gabriel bottoms carry big pecans. At this distance a same-week emergency call isn't realistic. Scheduled work absolutely is.
26 inches in diameter and up
Needs a hearing or council approval
26 inches or more — Heritage Tree territory.
Georgetown sets its Heritage Tree threshold at 26 inches DBH for listed species, which is higher than most cities around here. Removing or even pruning a Heritage Tree needs staff review under UDC sections 3.23 and 3.24. Note that pruning is included — that catches people out.
Under the threshold
Below the Heritage threshold — but the rules differ by lot type.
Georgetown's UDC Chapter 8 applies differently to a single-family lot, a commercial property and a new development site. I haven't verified the smaller-tree thresholds for each, so confirm with the city before removing anything substantial.
The ordinance, in its own words
A Heritage Tree is defined as having a diameter at breast height (DBH) of 26 inches or larger and belonging to a listed species. The City Council may designate any tree of historical importance or significant community benefit as a Heritage Tree. Removal or pruning of Heritage Trees requires review and approval in accordance with UDC Section 3.23 and Section 3.24.
Source: City of Georgetown — Tree Removal, Pruning and Landscape (UDC Ch. 8). This is a reading of the code, not legal advice and not the city’s own determination. Ordinances change.
Everything else the Georgetown code attaches
- What the ordinance covers
- UDC Chapter 8. Applies differently depending on whether it's a single-family residential lot, commercial property, or a new development.
- What the permit covers
- Heritage Tree rules cover PRUNING as well as removal — not just taking the tree down.
- How it's measured
- Diameter at breast height, 4.5 feet above ground. Heritage threshold is 26 inches for listed species.
- Who to call
- City of Georgetown Planning Department
- What I couldn't verify
- City Council can designate any tree of historical importance or significant community benefit as a Heritage Tree regardless of size.
Check your own tree against Georgetown’s rule
Permit checker
Measure it, then check it
Pick Georgetown, 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 Georgetown
Good access on town lots; the constraint is distance, not the site. At fifty minutes this is the far north edge of my radius. Georgetown is fifty minutes, the far north edge of where I go. Scheduled work is straightforward. A same-week storm call genuinely isn't, and I'd rather say that plainly than take the job and let you down. The older streets around the square have mature canopy over the roofs and need rigging; the newer developments on the north and west sides are open and quick. It's the far north end of my range at about an hour, so it batches with Round Rock and Hutto work.
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
Genuinely impressive mature canopy in the older neighborhoods around the square — live oak, pecan, cedar elm — plus big pecans down in the San Gabriel bottoms. Mature-canopy work: deadwood, end-weight, clearance over streets and roofs. Two very different situations inside one city. The San Gabriel bottoms carry big pecan and bur oak on deep river soil, and those fail by end-weight — a long horizontal limb nobody has reduced in thirty years finally lets go. Up around the old square it's mature live oak on shallower ground, where the job is deadwood and clearance rather than anything structural. The Balcones fault line runs straight through Georgetown, which makes it one of the few towns where I can be on two completely different jobs on the same afternoon. West of the fault it's Edwards limestone, thin soil, live oak and Ashe juniper, and roots spreading over rock. East of it it's blackland clay with cedar elm and pecan and the shrink-swell root shear that goes with it. The San Gabriel bottoms through the middle of town carry the best trees — big pecans and bald cypress on deep alluvial ground with water. If you're trying to work out why your tree is struggling, the first question is genuinely which side of town you're on.
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 Georgetown.
Questions I get asked
Do I need a permit to remove a tree in Georgetown?
It depends on the trunk size. A Heritage Tree is defined as having a diameter at breast height (DBH) of 26 inches or larger and belonging to a listed species. The City Council may designate any tree of historical importance or significant community benefit as a Heritage… That is City of Georgetown — Tree Removal, Pruning and Landscape (UDC Ch. 8), and it is quoted in full further down this page.
How do I measure my tree for Georgetown'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. Georgetown 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 Georgetown?
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 Georgetown 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.