Tree Service questions from Palm Beach County homeowners

Hurricane season runs June 1 to November 30 and peaks around September 10. Prep work should be done before June: once a watch or warning is issued, West Palm Beach asks residents to stop trimming and keep debris off the curb, and the Solid Waste Authority warns that once a storm threatens it is too late to trim.

No. The sabal palm is Florida's state tree and one of the most wind resistant palms in the UF/IFAS hurricane studies, royal and coconut palms sit in the middle, and the queen palm ranks last. UF/IFAS says never to take live green fronds or cut above the 9 o'clock to 3 o'clock line, and that a hurricane cut leaves a palm less able to stand up to wind, not more. Royal palms drop their own old fronds and rarely need pruning at all.

When the call is close: a big tree you would rather keep, a palm that might be sick, or a removal the city might not allow. In Palm Beach County the common mistakes are keeping a laurel oak or black olive that has lost its structure and removing a stressed live oak that would have recovered. Lethal bronzing in a palm is confirmed with a test through the county Extension office, not guessed at, and on a single-family home a signed risk assessment from an ISA certified arborist or Florida licensed landscape architect is what state law accepts instead of a local removal permit. The visit runs $125 to $200.

A trim runs $250 to $900 a tree and a removal $500 to $2,500. Big trees over a roof, or anything that needs a crane, run $2,500 to $6,000+. Palms are $75 to $200 each and a stump is $100 to $350. The estimate is free and written down.

Florida has no state license for tree services, and Palm Beach County does not list tree work among its certified trades, so the credential to ask for is ISA certified arborist and the real question is insurance. The crew carries general liability and workers' compensation coverage, the certificate comes with the estimate, and gated communities across the county will not let a vendor through without one.

West Palm Beach wants a tree alteration permit before a tree comes off developed property, except trees that are dead, severely diseased, invasive exotics or destroyed by natural causes, and after a hurricane the city can suspend the rule for 30 days for trees damaged beyond saving or hazardous, with 24 hours notice to the city. Unincorporated Palm Beach County lets an existing single-family home remove trees without a permit as long as the lot keeps its minimum required landscaping, and state law lets the owner of a single-family home remove any tree an ISA certified arborist or Florida licensed landscape architect documents as an unacceptable risk. Outside West Palm Beach, Boca Raton, Boynton Beach, Royal Palm Beach and the other cities each write their own rule, and the estimate names the one that covers your lot.

Brazilian pepper, Australian pine, melaleuca, carrotwood, earleaf acacia and Queensland umbrella tree are among the nine plants Palm Beach County prohibits. In unincorporated county they have to come out before a new home gets its certificate of occupancy and removing them takes no tree permit, and West Palm Beach needs no permit to remove invasive exotics either. Brazilian pepper along canals and fence lines is one of the most common clearing jobs here.

Yes, after the locate. Florida law requires a Sunshine 811 locate request at least two full business days before mechanical digging, so stump grinding near known lines is scheduled after the locate. Grinding runs $100 to $350 a stump, ground below grade.

Usually when the tree came down on a covered structure, and some policies add debris removal up to a cap. The crew photographs before and after and itemizes the invoice so the adjuster has what the claim needs.

Branches go through the chipper. Logs leave unless you want them for the fire pit. Grindings get raked into the hole or hauled, your call, and the driveway is blown off before the truck leaves.