Hollywood Tree Service

Old trees, close houses, strict code

Hollywood was planned by Joseph Young in the 1920s with wide boulevards and planted trees, and the oldest neighborhoods still carry that canopy. In Hollywood Lakes and the Lakes section, ficus, live oaks, mahoganies and royal palms planted a century ago now tower over bungalows and 1950s ranches that sit a few feet from their trunks. Roots are in sewer laterals and under driveways, and limbs are over roofs. These trees are protected and most of them should stay, but they need real structural work.

The city's tree code is one of the stricter ones in the county, with fines up to $5,000 for a tree removed without a permit. We know the rules, we get the permit, and we prune to the standard, which protects you and keeps the canopy the city is trying to preserve.

Tree services we provide in Hollywood

• Tree trimming & pruning - century-old ficus and oaks in Hollywood Lakes reduced and deadwooded without the topping that ruins them, limbs lifted off bungalow roofs.
• Tree removal - takedowns on narrow Lakes-section lots and in Hollywood Hills, with the city permit and canopy replacement handled.
• Stump grinding - old ficus and oak stumps ground deep so the roots stop and the replacement tree has room.
• Palm trimming - coconut and royal palms on the beach and along Hollywood Boulevard cleaned and de-fruited before storm season.
• Storm & emergency service - trees off houses and cars after storms, from the Broadwalk to the Turnpike.
• Lot & land clearing - teardown and infill lots cleared with protected trees identified first, which matters in Hollywood more than anywhere.

Hollywood neighborhoods and the trees in them

Hollywood Lakes, between the Intracoastal and Federal Highway, is the heart of the old canopy: ficus and oaks with trunks you cannot wrap your arms around, royal palm lines along the boulevards, and homes from the 1920s to the 1960s packed close together. Work here is almost all rigging and lowering in sections because there is nowhere to drop anything, and the city watches these trees closely.

Hollywood Hills and Emerald Hills, west of I-95, were built in the 1950s through the 1970s on bigger lots with planted black olives, live oaks and mahoganies that are now full size. The common problems are black olives over pool decks, oak limbs on roofs, and ficus hedges that have become trees. Beverly Park, Driftwood and the neighborhoods toward Pembroke Road have the same era of trees on smaller lots.

On the barrier island, Hollywood Beach and North Beach are salt and wind. Coconut and royal palms, sea grape and the occasional Australian pine are the trees that survive, and palm cleaning plus coconut removal before June is the main work. Trees on the beach side of A1A take the first hit from any storm.

Tree removal permits in Hollywood

Hollywood regulates trees under Chapter 106 of the city code, and a permit is required before removing, relocating or destroying any tree in the city. The county ordinance underneath it protects native trees 3 inches in diameter and up, and the city requires one-to-one canopy replacement for approved removals. Dead, diseased or hazardous trees can qualify for faster approval. Exempt nuisance species include Brazilian pepper, Australian pine, melaleuca, Norfolk Island pine, schefflera, bischofia, earleaf acacia and poisonwood. Fines for an illegal removal run up to $5,000 per tree, so do not let anyone take a tree down in Hollywood without paperwork. We handle the permit and the replacement planting. See our Broward tree permit guide for the county rules.

Storm season from the beach to the Hills

Hollywood's east side takes hurricane wind straight off the ocean, and its old ficus are the trees most likely to go over: huge canopies, shallow roots, brittle wood. The Lakes section lost a large share of its ficus in Wilma and again in Irma. Before June we thin and reduce the big canopies, remove dead wood and over-extended limbs, clean palms and pull coconuts. After a storm we work trees off houses and power drops first, then clear streets and driveways, cutting debris to the lengths the city's haulers accept.