Rollingwood, Texas · Travis County
Tree removal in Rollingwood
A small city wrapped around Zilker's western edge, heavily canopied.
In Rollingwood, a tree of about 12 inches in diameter or more is where the city gets involved. Rollingwood asks for a permit on any tree work — it's a routine online form.
About 33 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 Rollingwood actually regulates
Rollingwood's mature live oaks sit close to houses on lots platted before anybody imagined the trees getting this big. The recurring job is reducing end weight on limbs that now reach over a roofline they didn't reach over in 1975. Rollingwood is also separately incorporated — Austin's rules aren't yours.
12 inches in diameter and up
Permit needed
Protected tree — a permit and replacement trees, and the city approves these routinely.
At 12 inches or more on one of Rollingwood's protected species, removal takes a Tree Removal Permit, filed online, and the permit comes with a replanting condition: one replacement tree if the tree stands in the building area, three if it's in the setback, each sized at a quarter of the original's diameter. That's a process, not a refusal — the city publishes the checklist and the replacement list, and there's a cap on how many replacement trees can be required. We'll measure the trunk, mark the tree with ribbon the way the form asks, and file the application with you before anything comes down.
Under the threshold
Check the exemption first
Rollingwood asks for a permit on any tree work — it's a routine online form.
The city says a permit is required for any tree trimming or removal inside the city limits, whatever the size. Below 12 inches, or on a species that isn't on the protected list, there's no replacement obligation attached — it's the form and the approval. We file these as part of the job.
The ordinance, in its own words
A permit is required for any tree trimming or tree removal within the City limits. ... A permit is required for the removal of protected types of trees on residential lots with trunks that are 12 inches in diameter or more, measured 4.5 feet above the ground.
Source: City of Rollingwood, TX — Residential Trees and Tree Canopy Ordinance pages, and the city's own Tree Removal Application Checklist. This is a reading of the code, not legal advice and not the city’s own determination. Ordinances change.
Everything else the Rollingwood code attaches
- What the ordinance covers
- Any tree trimming or removal inside the city limits. The Residential Tree Canopy Management Ordinance adds a protected tier at 12 inches on the listed species; the city's Permitting page notes the ordinance was updated on April 16, 2025.
- If it's not construction-related
- Apply online through MyGovernmentOnline.org with the owner authorization, responsible-party form, tree acknowledgement statement and a sketch or map marking the tree, its species and its diameter. Trees requested for removal get marked with ribbon.
- If it's part of building or development
- With a demolition or new build, the same application also wants a tree survey of every tree 12 inches and over and a tree protection plan for the protected trees staying.
- Species rules
- Protected species: Texas ash, bald cypress, American elm, cedar elm, Texas madrone, bigtooth maple, all oaks, pecan, Arizona walnut and eastern black walnut. Oak trimming is closed February 1 through June 30 for oak wilt, with a $500 fine; where an oak is compromised and there's imminent danger the city says to contact City Hall for guidance or special approval. Call us and we'll make that call with you.
- How it's measured
- Diameter measured 4.5 feet above the ground. 12 inches is the protected threshold.
- Replanting / mitigation owed
- For a protected tree removed: one replacement tree in the building area, three in the setback, each replanted at a quarter of the original diameter from the protected-species list, with a separate smaller-tree list for replanting within 20 feet of overhead utilities. There is a cap on the total number of replacement trees required, and a Good Neighbor Program lets you plant on a consenting neighbour's lot if you run out of room.
- If you skip the permit
- Removing without a permit, or breaking its terms, carries civil penalties of up to $2,000 per tree per day under Section 107-379. The form takes a few minutes; we file it.
- Where it's written
- City of Rollingwood Code, Chapter 107, Subdivision 2 — Residential Tree Canopy Management; Sec. 107-376 and Sec. 107-379.
- Who to call
- City of Rollingwood Development Services, (512) 327-1838 — but call us first and we'll handle the measurement and the application.
- What I couldn't verify
- The city says the application fee is non-refundable but doesn't publish the amount online, so we don't quote one. We'll confirm it with City Hall as part of the quote.
Check your own tree against Rollingwood’s rule
Permit checker
Measure it, then check it
Pick Rollingwood, 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 Rollingwood
Small city, tight lots, big trees close to houses. Rigging work almost throughout, similar to Sunset Valley. Streets are narrow enough that where I park matters. Tight streets, short driveways and mature canopy everywhere, thirty-three minutes from me. Almost all rigging, very little dropping. Worth knowing that Rollingwood is separately incorporated, so Austin's tree ordinance is not the one that governs your lot.
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
Heavy mature live oak canopy, with cedar elm and some Texas red oak. The recurring job is end-weight reduction on limbs that now reach over a roofline they didn't reach over when the lots were platted. Mature live oaks close to houses on lots platted long before anybody imagined the trees at this size. The job is nearly always the same: reduce end weight on limbs now reaching over a roofline they didn't reach over decades ago, without taking so much that the tree responds badly.
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 Rollingwood.
Questions I get asked
Do I need a permit to remove a tree in Rollingwood?
It depends on the trunk size. A permit is required for any tree trimming or tree removal within the City limits. ... A permit is required for the removal of protected types of trees on residential lots with trunks that are 12 inches in diameter or more, measured 4.5 fee… That is City of Rollingwood, TX — Residential Trees and Tree Canopy Ordinance pages, and the city's own Tree Removal Application Checklist, and it is quoted in full further down this page.
How do I measure my tree for Rollingwood'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. Rollingwood 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 Rollingwood?
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 Rollingwood 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.