Tree Removal in Ocala, FL

Tree removal is the right call when a tree is dead, structurally unsound, or growing somewhere it will keep causing damage. In Ocala the usual candidates are laurel oaks past middle age, pines that have died after lightning or bark beetles, palms with Ganoderma butt rot or freeze-killed crowns, and trees with roots under a foundation, pool deck or septic system. A tree that leans has not always failed; one that has recently started to lean, with soil heaving on the opposite side, has.

Signs worth acting on

Look for cavities and soft wood at the base or where large limbs join the trunk, mushrooms or shelf-like conks on the trunk or roots, long vertical cracks, bark falling away in sheets, and dead branches at the top of the crown. On pines, needles fading from green to rust over a few weeks and small pitch tubes on the bark point to beetles; a dead pine dries and becomes brittle fast. On laurel oaks, UF/IFAS notes that even small injuries can start decay columns that run many feet inside the trunk, so a sound-looking exterior can hide a hollow core.

How a removal is done

Open ground lets a tree be felled in one piece toward a clear landing area. Most Ocala yards are not like that: there is a house on one side, a pool cage or fence on another and a neighbor's roof beyond. Then the tree is climbed or reached by lift and taken down from the top in sections, with heavier pieces lowered on ropes rather than dropped. For very large trees over a structure, a crane is sometimes the safest way to lift sections out. The method is chosen at the estimate and written on the quote.

Rules and wires

Inside city limits, a City of Ocala tree removal permit is needed for trees 4 inches or more in diameter at 4.5 feet, unless the home is a single-family house on R-1, R-1A or R-1AA zoning under 3 acres; the permit is issued to the contractor, takes at least 10 business days, and emergency applications go in person. In unincorporated Marion County, single-family parcels are exempt from the county's tree removal permit, and dead trees or trees posing an immediate threat are exempt as well. HOAs in many subdivisions still require approval before a tree is removed or replaced. Florida's section 163.045 allows a single-family homeowner to remove a tree without a local permit when an ISA certified arborist or Florida licensed landscape architect documents that it poses an unacceptable risk. Trees with limbs in power lines are handled with the utility first; inside Ocala's electric territory, a dead or defective tree that could strike a primary line can be reported through the city's hazardous tree removal request.