What Tampa homeowners ask us

Yes — H&M Tree Service carries full liability and workers' compensation coverage, with certificates available on request, and has a certified arborist on staff.

A certified arborist has passed credentialing on tree biology, safe work practice and proper pruning — it's the difference between someone who cuts trees and someone who understands them. H&M has a certified arborist on staff, which is why our advice sometimes is 'that tree is fine, save your money.'

A shrub-sized ornamental in open yard, maybe. Anything with height, weight, a lean, or a house, fence or power line nearby is one of the most dangerous jobs a homeowner can attempt — chainsaws, gravity and thousands of pounds of wood don't forgive mistakes. Permits can also still apply to DIY removals in Tampa and Hillsborough County. A free quote costs nothing; an ER visit or a crushed roof costs plenty.

Ask for a certificate of insurance sent directly from their insurer (anyone can print a fake PDF), look for an established local review history, and insist on a written quote that spells out what's included. Be extra careful with door-knockers right after storms — 'storm chasers' follow hurricanes into Tampa Bay and disappear just as fast.

It's rare — protecting your property is what the rigging, ground protection and job planning are for — but if we damage something, we tell you the same day and we make it right; that's exactly what our liability insurance is for. It's also the honest reason never to hire an uninsured crew: when they break a fence or a water line, the repair usually comes out of your pocket, not theirs.

The warning signs Tampa Bay homeowners should watch for: a new or increasing lean, lifted soil or exposed roots on one side, large dead limbs, mushrooms or fungus at the base, cracks where major limbs attach, and hollow or soft spots in the trunk. Any of these warrants a professional look — H&M Tree Service checks them for free.

H&M Tree Service is a family-owned, licensed & insured tree company serving Tampa Bay from Lutz, FL: tree removal, trimming and pruning, stump grinding, land clearing, grapple-truck debris hauling, tree planting and 24/7 emergency storm response, with a certified arborist on staff. Estimates are always free.

Emergency calls are answered 24/7 at (813) 244-0050 and dispatched by severity — trees on houses and blocked driveways come first. During named-storm recovery we run extended crews across Tampa, Lutz, Land O' Lakes and Wesley Chapel.

Get everyone out of the rooms under the tree and keep them out — trees on structures can shift without warning. Don't climb onto the roof. Take photos and video from the ground for your insurance claim. If anything is touching wires, stay far away. Then call H&M's emergency line at (813) 244-0050; we'll tell you honestly whether it needs a crew tonight or can safely wait for daylight.

The power company first — TECO for most of Tampa — and stay well away in the meantime; a line doesn't have to spark to be live. Tree companies can't legally or safely touch anything entangled in energized lines. Once the utility de-energizes or drops the line, H&M takes the tree from there.

Usually yes when a tree falls on a covered structure like your house, garage or fence — policies typically cover removal up to a set limit. A tree that falls in the yard without hitting anything is often not covered. H&M provides itemized invoices and photos that make insurance claims straightforward.

No — document everything with photos and video first, then make it safe. Policies expect you to prevent further damage, and a tree left on a roof does more harm every day it sits there. H&M photographs the job as we work and provides an itemized invoice, which is exactly what the adjuster needs.

Three steps before June: have the canopy thinned so wind passes through instead of pushing, remove deadwood and any hanging limbs, and get dead or badly leaning trees taken out entirely. A pre-season inspection is part of a free H&M estimate — the trimming done in April is the roof you don't fix in September.

Not always. Trees that have always leaned and grown that way can be structurally fine. The danger signs are a NEW or increasing lean, soil lifting on the side opposite the lean, or exposed roots — those mean the root plate is failing and the tree should come down before a storm makes the decision. We assess leaning trees for free.

Often, yes. Hillsborough County and the City of Tampa protect certain trees — grand oaks especially — and require a permit before removal, though dead and hazardous trees usually qualify for a streamlined process. H&M Tree Service handles Hillsborough permits regularly and will confirm what your specific tree needs before any cutting starts.

Tampa gives its largest, oldest oaks special protected status — removing one generally requires a permit, and healthy grand oaks are hard to get approved. If the tree is dead, diseased or genuinely hazardous, that changes the picture. We assess the tree, tell you honestly which case yours is, and handle the paperwork if removal is possible.

Florida law generally lets you trim branches that cross onto your property, up to the property line, as long as the trimming doesn't kill the tree. The smarter first move is a conversation with the neighbor — we regularly do jobs split between two households, and we can quote it that way.

In Florida, the tree generally belongs to whoever owns the ground the trunk stands on — and a boundary-line tree standing on both sides is generally shared, so neither neighbor should remove it alone. Overhanging branches you can trim to your line at your own cost. When a healthy tree falls in a storm, damage is usually each owner's own insurance claim. It's worth staying neighborly; we handle split-cost jobs all the time.

Often, yes — many Tampa Bay communities require board or architectural-committee approval before removing a tree, separate from any city or county permit. Check your HOA documents before scheduling a removal. H&M works with HOAs across the area and provides the written quotes and documentation boards ask for.

Most residential removals in Tampa Bay take two to six hours including cleanup. A small tree in an open yard can be done in an hour; a large oak over a house that must come down in rigged sections can take a full day. Your free estimate includes a time frame.

It varies with the season. Spring — when everyone preps for hurricane season — and the weeks after a storm are the busiest times across Tampa Bay. Genuinely hazardous trees jump the queue regardless. Call (813) 751-5732 and we'll give you a real date, not a window.

For the estimate, ideally yes — walking the yard together is how we make sure we're quoting what you actually want. For the job itself, not necessarily: with gates unlocked, cars moved and the scope agreed in writing, plenty of Tampa Bay customers are at work while we are. We'll walk the finished job with you either way.

Move vehicles out of the driveway and street frontage, unlock gates, bring pets inside, and point out anything hidden in the grass — sprinkler heads, septic lids, landscape lighting, invisible-fence wire. Five minutes of pointing things out protects them all day.

Yes. When trucks can't reach the tree, our climbers take it down in pieces — climbing it and roping each limb and trunk section down under control instead of dropping anything. Tight-access removals in fenced Tampa Bay backyards, between houses and over pool cages are some of the most common jobs we do. They take longer than an open-yard removal, and your free written quote reflects exactly that.

Whatever the job actually needs: climbing and rigging gear for tight or delicate removals, a bucket truck where there's access, chainsaws and a chipper for the brush, stump grinders, and our grapple truck for heavy logs and large debris loads. That's decided during the free estimate — you don't pay for equipment your tree doesn't require.

Unless you ask us to leave something, yes — logs, limbs and brush are hauled off and the work area raked, so what's left is a yard, not a wood pile. Some customers keep firewood rounds or free mulch chips, which can lower the price since hauling is part of the cost. The usual exception is stump grindings, which are typically left mounded over the spot to settle unless you ask us to haul those too.

We plan every job around avoiding it — plywood ground protection under heavy equipment, tracked machines where the ground is soft, and rigging instead of dropping limbs. Some jobs are done entirely from the street or driveway. If ground conditions create a real risk, we tell you before work begins, not after.

Once a year for most species, ideally in late winter or spring — before hurricane season — so canopies are thinned and end-weight is reduced when the storms arrive. Palms are trimmed once or twice a year. After any major storm, damaged and hanging limbs should be removed promptly.

Late winter through spring — before hurricane season — is ideal for trimming and planned removals, because trees are storm-ready when the June-through-November season arrives. Dead or hazardous trees shouldn't wait for a season: remove them whenever they're found.

For nearly all yards, yes. Grinding chews the stump several inches below ground level and costs far less than digging out the whole root ball, and the finished surface is ready for sod, pavers or replanting. Full excavation is only needed when building directly on the spot.

You can, but run the numbers first. A weekend rental plus a trailer often costs a large share of what a pro charges, rental units are far less powerful than commercial grinders — a hardwood stump can mean hours of grinding — and a machine that throws wood and rock at high speed is unforgiving of inexperience. If the stump sits near a fence, sprinkler lines or anything else you care about, having H&M grind it with a commercial machine is usually the better deal.

Absolutely. We can cut the trunk into firewood rounds, leave wood chips as free mulch, or haul everything away for a clean finish — your choice, and it can lower the price since hauling is part of the cost.

If the stump is left in the ground, several Florida species will keep sending up shoots for years. Grinding the stump removes the growth point, which ends it for most trees — a few aggressive species may push shoots from leftover roots for a season, and those are easy to cut or treat as the roots exhaust themselves.

Yes — tell us before the stump is ground and we'll grind deeper and wider than standard so the spot can take a root ball. Replacing a removed tree with a better-suited species is one of the most common follow-ups we do, and in some City of Tampa permit cases, replanting is part of the removal approval.

For shade: live oak, southern magnolia and bald cypress. For color and smaller yards: crape myrtle and holly. For the classic Florida look: sabal palms. The right choice depends on your soil, sun and — most importantly — the space the tree will need at its MATURE size, which is what we check before recommending anything.