Tree service FAQs

We carry $1,000,000 general liability insurance ($2,000,000 aggregate) through American Builders Insurance Company, and we will send the certificate before we start. It is worth asking anyone you call what theirs actually covers rather than assuming. It is worth asking any tree company for that. The ones who hesitate are telling you something important.

Santos quotes the job, is on the job, and is the person you call if something is not right. There is no estimator selling work that a subcontracted crew then has to deliver.

In sections, rigged down on ropes rather than felled, with the drop zones and the order of cuts worked out before a saw starts. Rigging over structures is a good part of what we get called for.

That is what the insurance is for, and it is why we plan the takedown before we start rather than during. Tell us at the estimate about anything underneath that matters, including septic fields and irrigation.

We work safely near lines but we do not touch an energized line. If a tree is on one, call the utility first. Once it is cleared or de-energized we can take the tree.

For most species, late fall through winter, while the tree is dormant and its structure is visible. Oaks we take year round, because what protects an oak is sealing the cut as it is made and cleaning tools between trees, rather than the month it is done in. Full detail in when to trim oak trees in Texas.

Look for veinal necrosis, where the veins of a live oak leaf brown while the tissue between them stays green, and for leaves dropping while still partly green in summer. The strongest clue is several nearby oaks declining together, because the fungus moves through interconnected roots at 75 to 100 feet per year. Red oaks typically die within four to six weeks of infection. See our oak wilt questions and answers.

No more than 25% of the canopy in a single year, and less on a tree already carrying drought stress. Cuts belong just outside the branch collar, and it is best to avoid removing branches larger than four to six inches in diameter where you have the choice.

Thin soil over limestone means trees anchor with wide, shallow root plates rather than deep roots. Saturated ground plus wind lifts the whole plate, which is why Hill Country failures cluster after heavy rain rather than in drought. Long overextended limbs make it worse by adding leverage.

No. Ashe juniper pollen travels a very long way on wind, so most of what affects you in January did not come from your land. Clearing is still worth doing for water competition, fire fuel and access. See cedar fever in Central Texas.

For most species no, because wounds close better uncovered. Oaks are the exception and it is not a marginal one: seal oak cuts promptly, year round, with a wound dressing or plain latex paint. Do the same for accidental bark damage from a mower or vehicle.

Yes. We come out, look at the tree, and give you a written price with no obligation and no charge. There is no fee for the visit whether or not you book the work.

The address, what the tree is doing that concerns you, and a photo if you can take one safely from the ground. A wide shot showing the whole tree and what is underneath it tells us more than a close-up of the damage, and it often lets us give you a range before we ever drive out.

We answer messages in the order they arrive and aim to get back to you the same working day. If a tree is down, on a structure, or blocking access, call rather than sending the form, because those are fitted in as soon as the crew can get there.

For genuine emergencies, yes. A tree on a house, across a driveway, or hanging over something it could fall on does not wait for Monday. Call and describe exactly what is touching what. If anything is near a power line, keep everyone well clear and call the utility first, not us.

Yes, across most of the Hill Country and into Austin. See the service areas page for the full list. If your address is not on it, ask anyway, because it is a service radius rather than a hard line.

Sometimes, from a good photo. Often not, because the things that decide it are at the base and in the upper canopy: root plate movement, decay at the flare, and how the main limbs are attached. Where the honest answer is that the tree is fine, we will tell you that, and we would rather say it before you have paid for anything.

Estimates are free, and price comes down to four things: the size of the tree, how close it is to a structure, whether a truck can reach it, and what happens to the wood afterward. A large oak leaning over a roof on a steep limestone lot needs rigging and takes far longer than the same tree standing alone in a pasture, and that gap is most of the difference between one quote and another. We will tell you which of those factors is driving your number.

Oak wilt is carried by sap-feeding beetles that are drawn to fresh cuts, and they are most active in spring. The control that matters is procedure rather than the date. Every oak cut we make is painted straight away, tools are cleaned between trees, and oak brush is chipped rather than stacked. We take oak work year round on that basis, including deadwood, hazardous limbs and storm-broken oaks whenever they happen.

A lean that appeared recently, soil heaving or cracking on one side of the base, mushrooms or conks at the root flare, large dead limbs in the upper canopy, or a split where two trunks meet. On thin Hill Country soil over limestone, root plates are wide and shallow, so saturated ground plus wind takes down trees that looked completely sound. If several nearby oaks are declining together, that points to oak wilt rather than to one bad tree. None of those decides it alone. Whether a tree needs to come down depends on its condition at the base and in the canopy and on what sits underneath it, which takes someone on site to judge.

Yes. Fallen trees, limbs on a roof or across a drive, and anything hanging after a storm. Call rather than use the form for those, and describe what is touching what, because a limb resting on a power line is a different job from a limb resting on a fence.

Your choice. We chip on site and leave the mulch piled where you want it, or we haul everything away. Chip is genuinely useful two to four inches deep over a root zone if you want to move it out, though spreading it is not part of the price. On oak jobs during the risk season the brush is chipped or removed rather than stacked, because cut oak wood can produce the fungal mats that start oak wilt spreading again.

Wimberley is home, and we work across Driftwood, Dripping Springs, San Marcos, Kyle, Buda, Blanco, Canyon Lake, Fischer, Spring Branch, New Braunfels, Bee Cave and into Austin. If you are near the edge of that, call and ask.

It depends on where you are, and confirming it is the property owner's call. Requirements vary by city and by tree, and your local planning department is the place to check. We will flag it if we think one is likely before the work is booked.

Every photo is our own crew on a real property in the Hill Country. None of it is stock.

Probably. Most of what you are looking at needed rigging rather than felling. Send a photo and we will tell you honestly whether it is doable and what is involved.

Yes, and we usually do. Say so at the estimate if you want them, particularly if you are not going to be on site while the work happens.

A straightforward removal is often half a day. A large rigged takedown over a roof, or acreage clearing, can run several days. We tell you the expected schedule with the written price.

Wimberley first, then across Hays County and into Comal, Blanco and south-west Travis. That covers Dripping Springs, Driftwood, San Marcos, Kyle, Buda, Canyon Lake, Fischer, Spring Branch, New Braunfels, Blanco and Bee Cave. If you are not sure whether you are inside it, call and ask.

Most of our work is outside Wimberley itself. We are a service area business rather than a shop, so we come to you.

It depends more on the job than the distance. A large removal or a multi-day clearing job is worth a longer drive than a single small trim. Tell us where you are and what you need and we will give you a straight answer.

The estimate is free wherever you are. If distance affects the price of the work itself we tell you that up front rather than adding it later.

Both. Homes and small acreage make up most of the work, and we also take on ranches, property managers, builders and commercial sites across the Hill Country.

It comes down to the size of the tree, how close it is to something that can be damaged, how much room the crew has, and what happens to the wood afterwards. That is why nobody can price it honestly over the phone. We give you the scope and price in writing after looking.

The written price covers the agreed scope of work. If you ask for additional work, or unforeseen conditions require a change of scope, we discuss and approve any price change before proceeding. If the job turns out smaller than quoted we tell you and charge the smaller figure.

Always. Brush is chipped or hauled, logs are cut to length or taken away, and the ground is raked off before we leave. Say at the estimate if you want the chip left as mulch and we will leave it where you want it. Spreading is not part of the price.

Fungicide injections and disease treatments, tree planting, and cabling and bracing. Stump grinding is arranged rather than done by our own crew. If you need one of those we will point you somewhere sensible rather than take the booking.

No. We thin selectively. Cedar holds thin soil on slopes and gives cover, so taking every stem off a property is usually the wrong answer.

Clearing cedar close to the house reduces what is right on top of you. It will not stop cedar fever, because the pollen travels for miles from December through February.

Reducing dense cedar can create better conditions for grasses and other vegetation to recover. Results depend on existing vegetation, seed availability, soil conditions, rainfall, and past land use, and some areas may require reseeding.

Yes. Clearing by hand rather than by machine is exactly what lets us work tight to structures.

Chipped on site and spread, hauled off, or cut into posts if you have a use for them.

It depends on conditions and what we already have running, especially after a big storm when everyone calls at once. Call and we will tell you honestly what we can do and when, rather than promise an hour we cannot hit.

The profile says open 7am to 7pm and we mean it for genuine emergencies. Some work is safer done in daylight, and we will say so if that is the case.

Call the utility first, not us. We work safely around lines but we do not touch an energized line. Once it is de-energized or cleared we can take the tree.

Responsibility can depend on the circumstances. Contact your insurer or an attorney for guidance. We can document the condition of the tree and the work performed.

Coverage depends on your policy and the circumstances of the loss. We can photograph and document our work, but coverage questions should be directed to your insurer. We can photograph and document the work as we go so you have what you need, but we do not file or negotiate claims.

Too variable to quote blind. Light brush on flat ground and heavy cedar on a rocky slope are different jobs by a wide margin. We walk it and give you a written figure.

Yes, and we mark them with you before anything is cut. Keeping the mature oaks is normally the whole point.

No. We do chainsaw based selective clearing. It is slower than a mulching head but it lets us work tight to structures and around trees we are keeping, and it does far less damage to thin Hill Country soil.

Chipped on site and spread as ground cover, stacked where you want it, or hauled off. Chipping is usually cheapest and it is the sensible option during a burn ban.

Yes. Working tight to structures is the reason we clear by hand rather than by machine.

It depends far more on access than on size. The same oak is a straightforward job in an open field and a long one over a roof with no drop zone. That is why we look before we price, and why the estimate is itemized rather than a single figure. Our minimum charge for any job is $500.

Cutting a tree down and removing it are the same job to us: the tree comes down in sections, the wood and brush leave, and the stump is cut flush. Our minimum charge for any job is $500. A small tree in an open yard sits near that. A large oak over a house, rigged down piece by piece, costs several times more, because it takes the crew a full day. We look before we price, and the estimate lists the cutting, the haul-off and the stump separately.

We cut it flush as part of the removal. Grinding it below grade is a separate machine and we bring in someone we have used for years to do it. It goes on your estimate as its own line, so you can include it or leave it.

Those are genuinely different things and it is worth having someone look. Dead wood in the top of an otherwise sound oak is normal. A crack through the union of two main stems is not. Come at it the other way round: what is underneath it, and what happens if the worst branch fails.

Usually, and it is most of what we do. Narrow side returns, courtyards, trees between a house and a fence line. It is climbing and rigging work rather than machine work, so it takes longer, but access is rarely the thing that stops us.

Call and we will tell you honestly. The phone is answered around the clock and the crew works seven to seven. If something is on a house or blocking your only way out we will get to you as quickly as we can, and if we cannot get there today we will say that rather than leave you waiting.

We write the estimate in the detail an adjuster needs and photograph the tree and the damage before we touch it. We do not handle the claim for you, but we provide a detailed estimate and photographs for you to submit to your insurer.

No. We are a climbing crew and we prune and trim; grinding is a separate machine and a separate trade. If a job needs one out, we will say so and point you to someone who does it properly.

Yes, $500 for a job. Getting the crew, the truck and the chipper to a property costs much the same whether there is one limb to take or ten, so a single small limb is usually better bundled with other work you were going to have done anyway.

For most species, the dormant season, when the tree is not spending stored energy on new growth. Oaks we take year round, because what protects them is sealing the cut rather than the month. September is a good month once the worst heat has passed.

No more than about a quarter of a mature canopy in a season, and less on a tree already stressed by drought. Anyone offering to take half of it is not doing you a favor.

No. Topping leaves a decaying stub ringed with badly attached regrowth. There is no version of it that is good for the tree, and it creates a hazard a few years out.

No. That is a licensed trade and we are not it. We do the pruning side properly so we are not the reason a tree gets infected, and if we see something that looks like oak wilt we will tell you and point you to someone who treats it.

To look, it depends on what is already on the schedule that week. To do the work, we run about a month booked out and we will give you a real date rather than a hopeful one. Genuine emergencies are fitted in as soon as the crew can get there.

No. We thin selectively. Cedar holds thin soil on slopes and gives cover, so taking every stem off a property is usually the wrong answer.

Clearing cedar close to the house reduces what is right on top of you. It will not stop cedar fever, because the pollen travels for miles from December through February.

Reducing dense cedar can create better conditions for grasses and other vegetation to recover. Results depend on existing vegetation, seed availability, soil conditions, rainfall, and past land use, and some areas may require reseeding.

Yes. Clearing by hand rather than by machine is exactly what lets us work tight to structures.

Chipped on site and spread, hauled off, or cut into posts if you have a use for them.

Yes. It does not have to be our material. Stack it somewhere a truck can reach and it goes faster and cheaper.

Yes, and most people do. We leave it in a pile where you want it. Spreading is not part of the price.

Usually, because nothing gets loaded and transported. Haul-off costs more and is the right call when you want the material completely gone.

It works well as a path and bed cover and breaks down slowly. Keep it off the base of young plantings.

Yes, and that is often exactly when people call. Chipping is the practical alternative when a pile cannot be burned.

It depends on conditions and what we already have running, especially after a big storm when everyone calls at once. Call and we will tell you honestly what we can do and when, rather than promise an hour we cannot hit.

The profile says open 7am to 7pm and we mean it for genuine emergencies. Some work is safer done in daylight, and we will say so if that is the case.

Call the utility first, not us. We work safely around lines but we do not touch an energized line. Once it is de-energized or cleared we can take the tree.

Responsibility can depend on the circumstances. Contact your insurer or an attorney for guidance. We can document the condition of the tree and the work performed.

Coverage depends on your policy and the circumstances of the loss. We can photograph and document our work, but coverage questions should be directed to your insurer. We can photograph and document the work as we go so you have what you need, but we do not file or negotiate claims.

Too variable to quote blind. Light brush on flat ground and heavy cedar on a rocky slope are different jobs by a wide margin. We walk it and give you a written figure.

Yes, and we mark them with you before anything is cut. Keeping the mature oaks is normally the whole point.

No. We do chainsaw based selective clearing. It is slower than a mulching head but it lets us work tight to structures and around trees we are keeping, and it does far less damage to thin Hill Country soil.

Chipped on site and spread as ground cover, stacked where you want it, or hauled off. Chipping is usually cheapest and it is the sensible option during a burn ban.

Yes. Working tight to structures is the reason we clear by hand rather than by machine.

Beetles that carry oak wilt are most active in spring and are drawn to fresh cuts, so an oak wound left open then carries more risk than the same wound in October. Sealing the cut as it is made removes that difference, which is why we do it on every oak, every month.

A fresh oak wound is attractive to the beetles that carry oak wilt spores. Sealing it immediately, within minutes rather than hours, closes that door. We do it on every oak cut regardless of season.

No. Fungicide injection is a different trade and we do not do it. What we do is the pruning side: immediate sealing, tool hygiene and correct handling of oak wood, so we are not the reason a tree gets infected.

Yes, and sometimes you have to. A cracked limb over a bedroom does not wait. We cut it and seal it straight away.

Chipped on site. Fresh oak wood left in a stack is one of the ways the disease moves, so we do not leave it lying about.

Santos is an ISA Certified Arborist, certificate TX-390690A, certified by the International Society of Arboriculture in September 2026. He grew up doing this work in the Hill Country and spent four years working alongside a certified arborist while studying at Oregon State before earning it himself. The certification is his, not the company's, and you are welcome to check the number.

No. Injections, fertilization and chemical treatments are a different trade and we do not do them. What we do is the structural and pruning side, and we will tell you honestly when a tree needs something we cannot provide.

Not necessarily. Leaf loss and canopy decline can have several causes, so the tree should be evaluated before deciding whether removal is necessary.

Yes, and we do this regularly. We will not recommend removing a healthy tree without a safety, access or construction reason.

Every few years for most, more often for anything over a roof, a driveway or somewhere people gather.

It depends on size, access and what is underneath. A small tree in an open yard is a straightforward job; a large oak over a roof needs rigging and takes far longer. We give you a written price after seeing it, covering the work described in it.

Yes. That is most of what we do. We rig sections down on ropes rather than felling, so nothing lands where it should not.

Stump grinding is arranged separately rather than done by our own crew. Tell us if you want the stump gone and we will work it into what we put together for you.

Often not. A genuinely dead tree cannot be brought back, but plenty of trees that look unhealthy or are in decline can be kept with the right pruning and care. We will tell you either way, and we do not recommend removing a healthy tree without a safety, access or construction reason.

We carry $1,000,000 general liability insurance ($2,000,000 aggregate) through American Builders Insurance Company, and we will send the certificate before we start. It is worth asking anyone you call what theirs actually covers rather than assuming.

We do. Brush chipped or hauled, logs cut to length or removed, and the area raked before we leave.

It varies far more than people expect, because a single limb and a full canopy job on a mature oak are different orders of work. We price on the tree in front of us and give you the figure in writing.

For most species, the dormant months. Oaks we take year round, because what protects an oak is sealing the cut immediately and cleaning tools between trees rather than the month it is done in. See our oak tree trimming page for the detail.

Most mature oaks here want attention every three to five years. Trees over a roof or a driveway usually need looking at more often than that.

No. Topping ruins the structure of a tree and creates weak regrowth that fails later. If a canopy needs reducing we shorten limbs back to suitable growth points instead.

Yes, always. Chipped on site or hauled away, whichever suits you.