Tree health and maintenance in Wimberley, TX
An honest walk-through of the trees on your property: what needs work now, what can wait, and what is better left alone. Owner operated, so you talk to the person who does the work.
ISA Certified Arborist, Santos BonillaFree estimates$1M liability insuredLocally owned and operatedRated 5.0 across 96 Google reviewsSome problems are hard to see from the ground
Many defects can be identified during a ground-based inspection, though decay, cracks and weak attachments higher in the canopy can be harder to assess. A look from in the tree tells you far more than a look from the lawn.
- Mature oaks over a roof, driveway or play area
- A tree that is thinning, dropping leaves early or looking stressed
- Leaning or damaged trees you are unsure about
- Drought stress, shallow soil or crowding
- Before buying a property with big trees on it
- A second opinion when someone has told you a tree must come down
A straight answer about your trees
We are not selling you a treatment program, because we do not do treatments. The recommendation is pruning, removal, or leave it alone, and often it is leave it alone.
Our process
No call center and no chasing. Santos walks the property himself, and the written price covers the work described in it.
We walk the property
Every tree that matters, with you, so you hear the reasoning as we go.
We get up into the ones that count
Because the structural problems that matter are not visible from below.
We tell you what we found
Now, later, or leave it. Plainly, without a sales pitch attached.
You decide what happens
We quote the work you want and we are happy for you to get another opinion.
What an assessment costs
A walk-through and a set of recommendations is free as part of quoting work, in the same way an estimate is. A detailed inspection of specific mature trees, with a written report you want for a purchase or a dispute, is a scheduled job and priced as one.
Tell us which of the two you need. If it is the free version we will say so rather than invent a fee.
What we look at
An assessment is mostly about structure, because structure is what fails. The things that matter are hard to see from a lawn chair.
Attachment points. Where two stems of similar size meet in a tight V, bark often gets included in the join instead of proper wood. Those unions look solid for decades and then split in a storm.
Decay and cavities. A hollow is not automatically a problem, because trees compartmentalise decay and carry on. What matters is how much sound wood is left around it and where that thin section sits relative to the load.
The root plate. Trenching for a driveway, a pipe run or a fence severs roots on one side, and a tree can look perfectly healthy for years afterwards and then go over in a wet blow.
Canopy condition. Thinning, dieback at the tips and early leaf drop tell you the tree is under stress. In this country that is usually drought and shallow soil rather than disease.
Why the answer is often nothing
Live oaks drop most of their leaves in early spring during the annual leaf exchange, which catches people out who expect an evergreen. They also thin and look rough by the end of a dry summer, and come back. Plenty of people pay to remove trees that were going to recover on their own. If that is what we think is happening we will say so, even though it means quoting nothing.
The corollary is that we will also tell you when something needs doing sooner than you were hoping, including when a tree you like is genuinely finished.
What an assessment actually looks at
Proper tree care supports safety and long-term health, and regular inspection and appropriate maintenance can help identify and reduce tree-related risks. An assessment covers structure, not just how green the canopy looks: cracks in major limbs, weak branch unions, decay at the base, lean, and whether the root plate has moved.
The right timing depends on the species and the situation. On deciduous trees a thinner canopy can make small cracks and early decay easier to see from the ground. Live oaks do not go bare in the same way.
Roots, and the ground they are in
Local terrain here is rocky limestone and steep slopes. Roots here often spread wide rather than deep and reach well beyond the canopy edge, so trees can be vulnerable to compaction, grade changes and trenching. Significant root loss raises the risk of failure, and how much a given tree can lose depends on the tree and the site.
If you are building, trenching for utilities or adding a driveway near a tree you want to keep, that is the conversation to have before the work rather than after.
Pruning as maintenance
Tree pruning helps maintain structural integrity and health, and proper pruning removes hazardous limbs and improves structure. Prune no more than 25% of the canopy annually, cut just outside the branch collar, and sanitize tools between trees. Proper pruning can reduce certain structural risks, and the right timing depends on the species and the situation.
What we do not do
We do not provide fungicide injection, root trenching, fertilization, or cabling and bracing. Oak wilt treatment requires licensed professionals for effective management, and if that is what your trees need we will say so and point you to someone who does it.
What we do is assessment, pruning, removal when it is genuinely needed, and honest answers about which of those you actually require.
Further reading
Diagnosing a struggling tree, in more detail than fits on this page.
- Can drought kill a healthy live oak – Telling drought stress from something that will not recover.
- Tree roots, and why damage starts there – Compaction, grade changes and severed roots.
- Should you fertilise a mature tree – Usually not, and what helps more.
- Spring leaf-out as a free inspection – Dead wood becomes obvious the moment growth starts.
What usually follows
Most assessments end in trimming, or oak specific work where live oaks are involved. Where a tree genuinely has to go, that is tree removal, and we will give you a second opinion before you commit to one. If the trees are being crowded by cedar, see cedar clearing.
What Hill Country property owners say
Rated 5.0 across 96 Google reviews. Homeowners and acreage owners on the crew, the cleanup, and the price holding to the quote.
Read Our Google ReviewsWhere we assess trees
Wimberley and across Hays, Comal and Blanco counties.
Tree health questions
Straight answers, including what the work actually costs.
Are you a certified arborist?
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.
Do you treat diseased trees?
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.
My tree looks dead. Is it?
Not necessarily. Leaf loss and canopy decline can have several causes, so the tree should be evaluated before deciding whether removal is necessary.
Someone told me a tree has to come down. Can you check?
Yes, and we do this regularly. We will not recommend removing a healthy tree without a safety, access or construction reason.
How often should mature oaks be looked at?
Every few years for most, more often for anything over a roof, a driveway or somewhere people gather.
What to ask before you hire any tree service
Most of the difference between a good outcome and an expensive one is settled before anyone climbs. These are worth checking whoever you hire, including us.
Ask for the insurance certificate, and read it. General liability is what stands behind damage to your property if something goes wrong during the work. Ours is $1,000,000 general liability ($2,000,000 aggregate) through American Builders Insurance Company, and we send it before we start. Ask any company you call to send theirs.
Ask what equipment the job needs. Proper equipment is essential for removing trees in challenging locations, and professional-grade equipment is most of what separates a controlled job from a hopeful one. On a steep or tight Hill Country site the honest answer is sometimes that the job needs kit a particular crew does not own.
Get it in writing. A tree job needs a clear, written estimate detailing all services included: which trees, whether the stump is included, whether wood is hauled or left, whether brush is chipped on site, and the job site clean-up standard.
Check reviews and references. Reviews and references are important for choosing a reliable tree service, and satisfied customers in a place this size are easy to check. Ask for addresses of recent jobs nearby.
Ask about oak wilt protocol. Texas Hill Country tree services follow oak wilt prevention protocols, or they should. That means sealing oak cuts promptly, cleaning saws between properties, and disposing of oak debris properly. Material from an oak suspected of oak wilt is handled separately, because fungal mats form on infected red oak wood.
Tree care services that often come with the job
Very few properties need only one thing done, and handling them on one visit costs less than bringing a crew back.
Trimming and pruning. Tree trimming improves safety and long-term health of trees, and tree pruning helps remove hazardous limbs and improve structure rather than just tidying the outline. Professional tree trimming can improve property appearance and views, and appropriate pruning can reduce some structural risks. Regular inspection and appropriate maintenance can help identify and reduce tree-related risks. Tree trimming services are available for both residential and commercial properties.
Chipping and mulching. Chipping reduces tree debris into manageable mulch on site and converts branches into usable mulch in minutes, and chipping services help clear land for new projects without a convoy of trucks. Chipped material can be reused as mulch for landscaping, mulching improves soil health and moisture retention, which on thin soil over limestone matters more than fertiliser does, and mulch can suppress weed growth in landscaped areas. Two to four inches over the root zone, kept three to six inches clear of the trunk.
Cedar management. Cedar management includes removing dead cedar trees and thinning dense stands, and cedar clearing promotes proper growth in landscapes and of surrounding vegetation by taking the competition for water off your oaks. Cedar management helps maintain healthy landscapes in Texas, is essential for site preparation in construction and for fence lines, and cedar management services are available for residential and commercial properties.
Land clearing. Land clearing removes brush, overgrowth and debris efficiently and can create more usable outdoor spaces on a property that has closed in. It prepares sites for construction projects, driveways and septic fields, can involve cedar removal and site preparation, and involves clearing out unwanted vegetation rather than scraping a slope bare. Land clearing services are available for both residential and commercial properties.
Emergency and storm work. Emergency tree services respond quickly to storm damage and are essential for safety after severe weather, and storm damage cleanup includes clearing fallen trees and branches. Dead and hazardous trees can pose risks to people and property, and removing them can reduce those risks. Emergency tree services are available for residential and commercial properties, and professional-grade equipment is used for emergency tree removal.
Arborist Wimberley TX
Wimberley Tree Service is a locally owned tree service company, owner operated, and the same small team does the work on every job. We are based in Wimberley TX and cover Hays County and the surrounding areas, including Dripping Springs, Driftwood, San Marcos, Kyle, Buda, Blanco, Bee Cave and Austin, with nearby areas across Comal and Blanco counties served on the same terms.
We work for homeowners, ranch and acreage owners, builders, clients and property managers, on both residential and commercial properties. Whether it is one dead tree in a back yard, dead limbs and branches over a driveway, or a whole fence line that has disappeared into cedar, the process is the same: we come out, look at it, and give you a written price that fits the unique needs of the property.
Every estimate is a free estimate, and we will tell you when we can get out to look. Scheduling the work itself is a separate thing: we run about a month booked out, and we will give you a real date rather than a hopeful one. Emergencies are the exception and are fitted in as soon as the crew can get there. We are $1M liability insured, we take great care to leave the job site clean, and we will tell you when a tree does not need the work you asked about.
A four person crew, and years of Hill Country tree work. The business has run under this name since April 2025. Orlyn and Matt climb, Aurelio works the ground, and Santos comes out on the jobs that need him. That is who turns up: the same small crew every time, not a subcontractor you have never met. Our minimum charge for a job is $500.
You get options, not one number. Every estimate is itemised and normally comes with three to five ways to approach the job, priced separately, so you can see what each part costs and choose the scope yourself. Most people find one of the middle options is the job they actually wanted. We work in English and Spanish.
Want a straight answer about a tree?
We will look at it and tell you either way, including when the answer is leave it alone.