Tree service in Mustang Ridge, Texas

What I see in Mustang Ridge yards

Mostly rural lots with fenceline trees — mesquite, cedar elm, hackberry. Fenceline work is its own thing: half the job is getting the brush out without tearing up the fence. Haul-away's included, so you're not left with a pile.

The trees I get called about in Mustang Ridge

Fenceline mesquite, cedar elm and hackberry, with the occasional big pecan by an older house. Fenceline trees have their own problem: they've been growing into and around wire for decades, and there's often metal buried in the trunk where a chain saw shouldn't find it. Mesquite is the one to understand out here, because cutting it wrong makes it worse. Cut a mesquite off at ground level and it resprouts from the base with a dozen stems where there was one, and you've traded a tree for a thicket. If the aim is to be rid of it, the stump has to be dealt with rather than just the trunk. Mustang Ridge is spread across the Travis, Caldwell and Bastrop county lines, which matters more than it sounds — it's the one town where I routinely have to check which county a property is in before saying anything about rules. The ground changes with it. The northern end is blackland clay running out from Del Valle; head southeast and it turns sandier as you approach the post oak savanna, and the species swap with it, from cedar elm and hackberry to post oak and yaupon. Practically, sandy ground means a grinder cuts fast and clean, and clay ground means the shrink-swell cycle is what's stressing your tree.

How to tell these species apart, and what goes wrong with each one.

The ground underneath: Blackland Prairie

Deep black clay that swells when it's wet and shrinks hard when it's dry. Post oak, blackjack oak, cedar elm, American and winged elm, sugarberry, green ash and honey mesquite. That soil movement is constantly shearing fine roots, and it's behind more mystery decline than any disease.

Permits in Mustang Ridge

I haven't read Mustang Ridge's ordinance closely enough to summarize it here, and I'm not going to guess at a rule that could cost you a mitigation bill. Call the city's planning or development services department and ask two questions: what trunk diameter triggers a permit, and is there a protected species list.

I have verified the rules for Austin, Kyle, Buda and Dripping Springs — those are written up here, along with how to measure your trunk properly, which every one of these ordinances depends on.

Working on a Mustang Ridge property

Rural lots right off I-35, easy to reach and easy to work. Half the job on a fenceline is getting brush out without tearing up the fence, and haul-away is included so you aren't left with the pile. Eighteen minutes from Kyle, sitting where three counties meet, flat and open with easy access. Fenceline work is most of what I do here and the haul-away matters as much as the cutting. Acreage lots along the frontage roads with room to work, and a straight run down I-35 from Kyle. Where it gets slower is the properties on unimproved drives after rain, because a chip truck on soft blackland is how you spend an afternoon getting unstuck.

Questions I get from Mustang Ridge

Getting me out to Mustang Ridge

Mustang Ridge is about a 18-minute run for me. Call or text me a photo with something in frame for scale and I can usually give you a number without driving out. Estimates are free either way.

One rule that applies everywhere, including here: don't prune oaks between February 1 and June 30. Here's why.