Tree Removal in Mobile, AL

Tree removal in Mobile usually involves one of a few familiar trees: a tall loblolly or slash pine browning from bark beetles, a water oak or laurel oak with a hollow trunk or a split fork, a hurricane-damaged tree that has been leaning since the last storm, or a healthy tree that simply outgrew a small lot. Very few of them can be felled in one piece. With houses, carports, fences and lines nearby, most come down from the top: limbs first, then sections of trunk, with heavy pieces lowered on ropes.

Trees that tend to fail here

After Gulf hurricanes, University of Florida researchers rated water oak and laurel oak among the least wind-resistant trees in the southeastern coastal plain, along with pecan and Bradford pear. Water oaks are common in older Mobile neighborhoods, grow fast and often decay from the inside as they age. A large water oak over a house, especially one with a cavity, mushrooms at the base or a long crack, is the tree we are most often asked to look at. A live oak or magnolia in the same spot is far more often a pruning job than a removal.

Pines and bark beetles

Pines stressed by storm wounds, lightning, drought or roots cut for a driveway or addition attract bark beetles. Alabama Extension describes Ips engraver beetles turning needles suddenly from green to rusty red, and says infested pines can die four to six weeks after symptoms appear, with neighboring pines within about 20 yards most at risk. Its advice is to remove trees with Ips or southern pine beetle promptly and grind the stump. Dead pines dry out and drop limbs, so waiting rarely makes the job cheaper.

Check the permit before the price

In the City of Mobile, a tree in the public right-of-way is a city tree, and taking it down needs a Mobile Tree Commission permit. On private land the answer depends on the lot: inside a historic district, Heritage Trees from 8 inches in diameter need a permit, and on undeveloped residential land outside a district, live oaks from 18 inches do. Heritage species include oaks other than water oak, southern magnolia, longleaf pine, hickory, sweetgum, sycamore, river birch and yellow poplar. The fee is $75 per tree, capped at $225 for a home. We point this out before quoting.

Wood, brush and the stump

Mobile's curbside trash rules exclude contractor debris, so removal quotes include hauling unless you want the wood. Logs can be left in rounds for firewood or a fire pit, brush is chipped, and chips can stay as mulch. The stump is a separate line: grind it the same day, later, or not at all.