Tree Service in Lutz, FL

Hillsborough or Pasco: whose tree rules apply in Lutz?

Lutz has no city government, so county rules cover its trees. The Census draws its Lutz boundary entirely inside Hillsborough County. Lutz mailing addresses run north into Pasco County, though. By land area, about 42 percent of ZIP 33559 and 36 percent of 33558 lie in Pasco.

South of the county line, Hillsborough County's Natural Resources staff review tree permits. On a single-family lot, a yard tree 12 inches DBH or larger usually needs one. DBH is the trunk diameter measured 4.5 feet above the ground. Oaks of 34 inches DBH or more in good condition can qualify as Grand Oaks, which the county protects.

North of the line, Pasco County's rules apply. Its permit checklist says native trees over 5 inches DBH need a permit. Every Pasco permit starts with a replanting requirement, and allergies or leaf drop do not count as reasons.

Florida law adds one more path at a single-family home on either side. An ISA Certified Arborist or a Florida licensed landscape architect can document a tree as an unacceptable risk. With that signed finding in hand, the county may not require a permit. The permit is the property owner's, and we can walk you through the county's permit page.

Oaks and pines on Lutz's wet flatwoods sand

NRCS soil maps put about a quarter of Lutz on Myakka, the sand Florida named its state soil. It drains poorly, and its native cover is longleaf and slash pine over saw palmetto. Another fifth is Zolfo sand, with scattered laurel and water oaks in its native cover. The county's Brooker Creek Headwaters Nature Preserve in Lutz holds oak hammocks, pine woods, grassy meadows and cypress swamps.

UF/IFAS studies of trees after hurricanes rank laurel oak and water oak lowest for wind resistance. Live oak and sand live oak rank highest. UF/IFAS also says a laurel oak begins to decay and show disease as it reaches 40. Census estimates show most Lutz homes went up from 1970 to 1999, and a quarter date from the 1980s.

An oak planted with a 1980s house is about 40 now. Pines need a second look too: UF/IFAS says they can die slowly, 6 months to 2 years after a windstorm. When an old oak leans or a pine browns out near the house, it may have to come out. Our crane or our tracked lift takes it down in sections over the roof.

Storm cleanup in Lutz after Milton

Milton's winds reached Hillsborough and Pasco on the night of October 9, 2024. Across Hillsborough County, peak gusts ran mostly 80 to 100 mph, the National Weather Service reported. Pasco County's peak gusts ran mostly 55 to 65 mph. A rain gauge 3.4 miles northeast of Lutz, on the Pasco side, caught 12.02 inches.

Unincorporated Hillsborough had over 4.8 million cubic yards of storm debris after Helene and Milton. The county called its cleanup the largest debris collection effort in its history. Pasco County collected about 1.3 million cubic yards and removed more than 9,000 hazardous trees and branches.

When a storm drops a tree on the roof, our emergency tree service makes the property safe first. If a power line is down, the utility clears it before we start. We document the damage before we cut, and we have worked with homeowners insurance companies on storm jobs. Call or text and we tell you when a crew can be there.

Land clearing for new homes around Lutz

A third of the homes in Lutz were built in 2000 or later, the Census estimates. On the Pasco side, master-planned Long Lake Ranch sits on State Road 54 with Lutz addresses. Unincorporated Pasco permitted 5,737 new single-family homes in 2025, about twice the 2,823 in unincorporated Hillsborough.

On the Hillsborough side, clearing an area takes a land alteration permit rather than a tree permit. Building a new home there takes a Land Alteration and Landscaping permit before any clearing. Pasco has no lot clearing permit of any kind. There, a lot without a house needs an assigned address and a site development permit before protected trees come out.

Wetlands on the lot get extra review, from Hillsborough's Environmental Protection Commission or from Pasco County. Gopher tortoises are protected, and an FWC relocation permit comes before any burrow is disturbed. Once the permits are sorted out, we handle the land clearing: the trees, the brush, the stumps and the debris.