Tree service in Uhland, Texas

What I see in Uhland yards

Small town, old trees, and a lot of properties on septic. That last part is the practical one: stump grinding near a drain field needs somebody to know where the field is before the grinder starts. Tell me and I'll work around it.

The trees I get called about in Uhland

Old yard trees — post oak, cedar elm, pecan — around houses that predate most of the development around them. The pecans in particular are often big, untended, and full of deadwood, which is cheap to fix and expensive to ignore. Prairie-edge post oak and cedar elm along the fencelines with mesquite where ground has been worked, and a scattering of old yard trees around the original town. Post oak is the one to be careful with — it resents root disturbance and irrigation aimed at it, and it answers heavy pruning by declining slowly over about five years.

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 Uhland

I haven't read Uhland'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 Uhland property

Small town, easy access, ten minutes out. The real Uhland variable isn't access, it's septic: a lot of properties here are on drain fields, and a stump grinder has no idea where yours is. Show me before I start. Ten minutes from me and straddling the Hays-Caldwell line, which occasionally decides whose rules apply to your tree. A lot of properties out here are on septic, and that's the thing to tell me before a grinder starts: a stump grinder doesn't know a root from a drain lateral.

Questions I get from Uhland

Getting me out to Uhland

Uhland is about a 10-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.