Tree service for Old Town and downtown Georgetown — the heritage oaks around the square
The Victorian courthouse square and the 1880s–1950s houses around it, under live oaks and pecans that were old when the houses were built — and that UDC Chapter 8 protects by the inch. Careful work, done to the letter.
The blocks around the Williamson County courthouse — Old Town to the east and south, the University Avenue and Austin Avenue corridors, the streets near Southwestern University — hold Georgetown's oldest houses and its oldest trees: live oaks 150 years old, pecans along the San Gabriel bottoms, cedar elms and hackberries that seeded themselves a century ago, and the magnolias in the front yards. Nearly all of the oaks are Heritage Trees under the city's Unified Development Code — 26 inches and up at 4½ feet — and many of the rest are Protected Trees, which means a permit, an arborist's report and mitigation for anything more than pruning. The lots are narrow, the houses are close, and the power lines run under the canopy.
Our Old Town work is what heritage trees on tight lots need: crown cleaning and deadwood removal to ANSI A300 with every cut painted during oak wilt season, cabling and bracing for the limbs over the Victorians, root-zone care where century-old sidewalks and driveways fight the roots, honest risk assessments on the hackberries and elms that have reached the end, Heritage Tree permit applications prepared with the report the city requires, and removals by crane from the street when a tree between two houses has to come down. After every ice storm, Old Town is our first route because the biggest trees are here.
What we do in Old Town & Downtown Georgetown
Heritage oak care
Crown cleaning, deadwood and reduction pruning to ANSI A300; cuts painted February through June against oak wilt.
Cabling & bracing
Steel and synthetic systems for the limbs over the Victorians; inspected annually.
Heritage Tree permits
UDC Chapter 8 applications with the arborist report and mitigation calculation prepared for you.
Crane removals on tight lots
Picks from the street over the house and the neighbor's; nothing free-falls.
Root-zone work
Air-spade excavation and root pruning where old sidewalks and driveways meet the roots.
Storm response
Old Town first after every ice storm; limbs off the house, then the yard, then the curb.
Neighborhoods and areas we cover
- Courthouse square
- Old Town (east of Austin Avenue)
- University Avenue corridor
- Southwestern University area
- Austin Avenue corridor
- Main Street
- Church Street
- Elm Street
- Myrtle Street
- San Gabriel Park
- Rock Street
- Forest Street
- College Street
- Pine Street
- Blue Hole Park area
- Williams Drive (east end)
Tree services available in Old Town & Downtown Georgetown
- Tree removal, crane removal, 24/7 emergency service
- Trimming & pruning, live oak & post oak care, cabling & bracing
- Oak wilt evaluation, ball moss & mistletoe removal
- Stump grinding, storm cleanup, cedar & lot clearing
- HOA & commercial tree service
Questions from Old Town & Downtown Georgetown homeowners
Is my Old Town live oak a Heritage Tree?
If it measures 26 inches or more in diameter at 4½ feet, yes, and most of the big ones do. Removal needs a city permit, an arborist's report and mitigation; pruning to the standard doesn't. We measure and tell you plainly which rules apply.
Can a 150-year-old live oak be pruned safely?
Yes, lightly and correctly — deadwood, small reductions, clearance from the roof, never topping — with every cut painted during oak wilt season. That's what an ISA-certified arborist is for.
How do you get a crane onto an Old Town lot?
From the street, early in the morning, with the city's right-of-way permit for the lane closure when one is needed. The crane reaches over the house and picks each section straight up.
The roots lifted my sidewalk — can it be fixed without hurting the tree?
Usually. We air-spade the root zone, prune what's safe, and work with your concrete contractor on a bridged or re-routed walk. Cutting a heritage oak's roots to pour a flat walk isn't something we do, and the city wouldn't allow it.
Does the historic district review tree removal?
The overlay districts are about the buildings; the tree rules are UDC Chapter 8, which applies citywide. We handle the permit either way.
Nearby: Wolf Ranch & West Georgetown · Sun City · Round Rock · full service area