Tree Service in Athens, GA

Looking for a tree service company in Athens?

If you searched for tree removal companies or a tree service near you and landed here, this is what you have found: a local company that does one trade. Tree removal, trimming and pruning, stump grinding, and storm work, across Athens-Clarke County and the towns around it. Not landscaping, not roofing, and not line clearance around live power, which is utility work.

Every job is quoted in writing after someone has stood in the yard and looked at the tree, and the written number is the number. If you want to compare us with other tree service companies, the questions further down this page are the ones to ask all of us. If your tree is in Watkinsville, Bogart, Bishop or elsewhere in Oconee County, see tree service in Watkinsville and Oconee County, because the rules change at the county line.

What a job actually costs

Nobody can price a tree from a phone call, and you should be careful with anyone who tries. Cost comes down to size, what is underneath the tree, how close it is to something that would be expensive to hit, and how much of the day gets spent cutting up and hauling what comes down.

We put the number in writing before any saw comes out of the truck, and the written number is the number. Our tree removal cost page walks through what moves the price up and down, and where you can save money if you are flexible about the wood.

What happens when you call

1. You tell us what you are looking at. A photo helps more than a description. Send one if you can.
2. We come out and look. Trees get quoted in person, on site, with eyes on the tree and on the access.
3. You get the price in writing. Scope, cleanup, and what happens to the wood, all spelled out.
4. We schedule the work. Emergencies move to the front. Everything else gets a real date.
5. We clean up. Brush chipped, wood handled the way you asked, ground raked. You should not be able to tell we parked there.

Athens trees are not generic trees

Athens sits in the Georgia Piedmont, and the county takes its canopy seriously enough to have written it into law. Athens-Clarke County adopted a Community Tree Management Ordinance in 2005, and the ordinance sets a goal of keeping at least 45% canopy cover across the county (Athens-Clarke County). The county also runs a Community Tree Program and publishes a native plant guide written specifically for Piedmont conditions.

For you as a homeowner that matters in two practical ways. Mature hardwoods and tall pines close to older houses mean removals here are often tight, technical jobs rather than open-field drops. And there are rules about which trees can come down, which we cover on the Athens tree rules page.

Do you need permission to take a tree down?

Often, no. Outside the Milledge Avenue Overlay District, the county's ordinance does not regulate trees on private lots that have not been developed since 2005, and non-protected private trees may be removed at any time for any reason (Athens-Clarke County). There are real exceptions, including protected and Landmark trees, and there are separate rules for larger lots and for timber harvesting.

We work through this with you before we quote, because a permit question can change the job. The tree rules page has the actual criteria the county publishes, including who is responsible when a neighbor's tree comes down on your side of the line.

When to prune, and when to just wait

If a limb is hanging over your roof, timing does not matter. Deal with it.

For routine pruning, University of Georgia Extension points to the dormant winter season, roughly January into early March, before spring growth starts, with spring-flowering plants pruned after they finish flowering. If you call us in July about shaping a healthy tree, there is a fair chance we will tell you it can wait until winter, and why. More on that on the trimming page.

Where we work

Athens-Clarke County first, plus the towns around it including Watkinsville, Bogart, Winterville, Bishop, Statham, Hull, Colbert, and Jefferson. Some of those sit in Oconee, Jackson, Madison, or Barrow County, and the tree rules are not identical across county lines. The service area page lists the towns and explains what changes when you cross one, and Watkinsville and Oconee County have their own page.

Get a written estimate

Tell us what you are dealing with and we will come look at it. We are a local Athens tree service, the estimate is free, and it comes in writing. If it is urgent, call (571) 412-0006 instead of filling in a form, because the phone is faster.