Frequently Asked Questions

For most trees on a private residential lot, there is no general removal permit. Oaks are the main exception: the city's zoning code counts oaks of 4 inches or more in trunk diameter as mature trees and oaks of 10 inches or more as protected trees, and lots with grading, development approvals or sensitive habitat can need a Vegetation and Tree Removal permit from the Planning Division. Parkway and median trees are planted and maintained by the city. We will tell you if your tree looks like it falls into one of those groups.

This Old House puts the Escondido average at about $804, with most jobs between $392 and $1,723. LawnStarter's Escondido averages run from about $333 for a small tree to about $2,052 for a large one. Height, what is underneath and access matter most; HomeAdvisor says difficult access can add 25 to 50 percent. Your written estimate is the price.

Yes. We give free estimates in person across Escondido and nearby towns. Seeing the tree, the slope and what is under it is the only way to give a real price, so we do not quote large removals over the phone.

Not always. Those can be signs of goldspotted oak borer, which mostly attacks coast live oaks and California black oaks in San Diego County. UC IPM says trees with severe crown thinning and more than 100 exit holes likely cannot be saved, while treatments are generally more useful for protecting healthier trees. We look at the tree and tell you what we see, and if removal makes sense we check the city's oak rules first.

Lines running between poles belong to SDG&E, and work near energized lines is for the utility and its line-clearance crews. We handle the tree up to a safe distance from the lines and can work around the service drop to the house, but we will not cut into energized lines.

You choose: logs left in rounds, cut to firewood length, or hauled away, with branches chipped. Oak wood from beetle-damaged trees is a special case; UC IPM advises keeping infested wood on site and seasoning it for two years, tarping it, or grinding it, rather than moving it to uninfested areas.

A dead or dangerous tree should come down as soon as it can be scheduled. For planned removals and clearance pruning, late spring and summer, before the autumn Santa Ana season, makes sense, especially for trees close to the house. If you are selling in a High or Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone, AB 38 defensible-space requirements apply at sale, so plan ahead.

A small tree on open ground can be done in an hour or two. A large eucalyptus or pine over a house, lowered in sections, can take most of a day or more. The quote tells you what to expect.

Not for the work itself, as long as we can get to the tree and the scope is signed. Many people like to be there at the start to walk the job once more.

Usually, yes. Slopes change the method: wood may be lowered and carried up, or cut small and chipped on the slope. Decomposed granite soil can be loose, so we plan footing and where pieces land before starting.

The cutting is similar, but the rules are not. Escondido treats oaks of 4 inches and up in trunk diameter as mature trees and 10 inches and up as protected trees, and oak wood may carry goldspotted oak borer. We check both before quoting.

We keep heavy equipment off soft ground and drip lines where we can, and we will ask you to flag sprinkler heads and valves before we start. Anything that cannot be avoided is noted on the quote.

Get everyone out of that part of the house, stay away from any downed wires, and call SDG&E or 911 if lines are involved. Take photos, call your insurer, then call us to take the tree off safely. Do not try to cut a tree that is resting on a roof yourself; the weight can shift.

You can call any time and leave details about the tree and the damage. Calls are worked in order of danger, starting with trees on occupied homes and blocked exits.

Often, if the tree damaged a covered structure such as the house or a garage. Trees that fall in the yard without hitting anything are often not covered. Check your policy; we provide itemized paperwork either way.

That is between you, your neighbor and your insurers, and it usually turns on whether the tree was visibly dead or hazardous beforehand. We can remove it and give each party a clear, itemized record of the work.

Have big trees near the house looked at in late spring or summer. Dead tops, long heavy limbs over the roof, cracked forks and trees with a fresh lean are the usual failures, and pruning or removing them ahead of the wind is much cheaper than an emergency call.

Often, yes. Dead wood breaks unpredictably, so climbing takes longer and some trees need a lift instead. Removing a tree while it is still declining rather than fully dead usually keeps the cost and risk down.

Sometimes. UC IPM says very severely infested trees, with heavy crown thinning and more than 100 exit holes, likely cannot be saved, while UC IPM says treatments are generally more useful for protecting healthier trees than saving heavily infested ones. We tell you which side of that line your tree looks to be on.

You can keep it on your property. UC IPM says wood cut and seasoned on site for two years should be free of live beetles. What you should not do is move fresh oak firewood from an infested tree to other areas, since that is how the beetle reached San Diego County.

Escondido's zoning code covers mature oaks of 4 inches and up and protected oaks of 10 inches and up, mostly in connection with grading and development. A dead or hazardous oak is a common reason for removal, but check with the Planning Division before cutting a large oak; we will help you describe its condition.

Talk with your neighbor first and put the concern in writing. We can give either of you an estimate, and a written description of the tree's condition can help the conversation.

Most fan and date palms need dead fronds and seed stalks cleared about once a year. For fire safety, the skirt should not be allowed to build up at all. Trimming more often than needed, or cutting green fronds, does the palm more harm than good.

It depends on where it stands and how much you want to keep paying to trim it. A healthy palm in an open spot can be trimmed for decades. A very tall palm leaning toward the house or over a neighbor's pool is often worth removing, since trimming costs climb with height.

Watch for a crown that tilts, flattens or collapses, fronds drying into an umbrella shape, notched new fronds and cocoons dropped under the palm. Any of those on a Canary Island date palm is worth a closer look. UC Riverside also takes reports of suspected infestations through its online survey.

A dense skirt is dry fuel next to your house and a hiding spot for rats. The Escondido Fire Department's checklist calls for removing dead fronds and skirts in defensible space, and a burning skirt can drop embers far downwind.

Yes. Palm stumps are fibrous rather than woody, but they grind out like other stumps, and the root ball of a palm is far smaller than that of a broadleaf tree.

Less than most people think. Escondido's code limits pruning of mature and protected trees, including oaks of 4 inches and up, to one-third of the living crown in one pruning, and good practice is usually well under that. Removing too much starves the tree and invites decay.

Trimming is a big part of it. The Escondido Fire Department's checklist asks for 10 feet of canopy clearance from roofs and chimneys, 6 feet of ground clearance, no ladder fuels and no palm skirts. Other items, such as clearing roof debris and spacing firewood away from tree crowns, are part of the same checklist.

We do not top trees. Topping leaves stubs that rot and sprout weak shoots that break later, and Escondido's code bars topping of mature and protected trees in routine maintenance. Reduction pruning back to side branches lowers a tree without those problems.

Generally you can trim branches back to the property line, but not in a way that kills or seriously damages the tree. It is wise to talk to your neighbor first. We can give you both the same written plan.

Usually per visit, yes, but a tree that needs heavy pruning every year can cost more over time than taking it out. We will tell you honestly which makes more sense for a given tree.

Typically several inches below the soil surface, which is enough for sod, mulch or gravel. If you plan to replant a tree in the same spot or build over it, tell us and we will go deeper or recommend full extraction.

Some trees, including eucalyptus, can sprout from a cut stump. Grinding the stump below grade removes the part that sprouts in most cases; any shoots that appear later from roots can be cut back until the roots die.

Yes, but it helps to move the planting spot a few feet over or to remove the chips and add fresh soil, since decaying roots and wood chips are a poor place for a new tree to start.

Yes. Old stumps are a common job, and they are often harder than fresh ones because they have dried out. Just tell us roughly how wide they are and send a photo.

Grind them or cut them flush, and keep the chips and wood on your property. UC IPM notes that larvae can live in stumps for at least a year and that moving infested wood is the main way the beetle spreads.