Tree service in Rollingwood, Texas

What I see in Rollingwood yards

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.

The trees I get called about in Rollingwood

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.

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

The ground underneath: Edwards Plateau

Shallow, stony, alkaline clay over limestone. Live oak, ashe juniper and cedar brakes. Roots go wide instead of deep because there's nowhere deep to go, which is why wind-throw is the failure mode out here.

Permits in Rollingwood

I haven't read Rollingwood's ordinance, and I'm not going to guess at a rule that could cost you a mitigation bill assessed after the tree is already down.

If Rollingwood is outside any city limits — and several places around here are — there is usually no municipal tree ordinance at all. Deed restrictions, plat notes and HOA rules still apply, and those are the ones that catch people out. Worth checking your own paperwork before the city's.

If it is inside city limits, one call to planning or development services settles it. Ask four things: what trunk diameter triggers a permit; whether there is a protected or heritage species list; whether you owe replanting or a mitigation fee; and whether the answer changes because it is or isn't part of construction. Write down who told you and when. It is free and it takes ten minutes.

Same county, and I have read these end to end: Austin, Manchaca, Del Valle. Those are not Rollingwood's rules and you cannot rely on them here — but they show you the shape of the thing and exactly what to ask, which is usually enough to make the phone call a short one.

The checker walks you through it, and every ordinance I have read is written up here — along with how to measure your trunk properly, which every one of these rules depends on.

Tell me what you find and I will verify it and add Rollingwood to the list.

Working on a Rollingwood property

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.

Questions I get from Rollingwood

Getting me out to Rollingwood

Rollingwood is about a 33-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.