Tree Removal in Fort Lauderdale, FL

Tree removal on a typical Fort Lauderdale lot means working in a few feet of open space. Houses sit close together, backyards are filled by a pool and its screen enclosure, and many lots end at a seawall. A black olive or ficus planted forty years ago can now shade the whole property, with roots under the slab and limbs over the roof. Cutting at the base and letting it fall is rarely possible, so the tree comes down from the top: limbs first, then sections of trunk, each one lowered on ropes or lifted out.

When a tree should come out

Some cases are clear: a dead tree, a trunk split by a storm, a fresh lean with soil heaved up on one side, or a cavity or fungus at the base. Others are judgment calls. A healthy ficus may be lifting the driveway and the pool deck. A black olive may drop so much litter and staining sap on a pool that the owner is done with it. A laurel oak may be reaching the end of its life span. We tell you what we see and whether pruning or root work could solve the problem instead of removal.

The city permit

Fort Lauderdale requires a tree removal permit for many trees on developed single-family lots, starting at an eight-inch trunk diameter. The permit application asks for a site plan with each tree numbered and listed by species, height and trunk diameter, and the city may ask for alternatives like root pruning or a root barrier when a tree is being removed for root damage. Removed trees generally need equivalent replacement, or a payment into the city's Tree Canopy Trust Fund, and the stump has to be ground below grade. Large, healthy trees that qualify as specimen trees carry stricter rules and an arborist report. We explain what applies to your tree before you commit.

When a crane makes sense

A crane is sometimes the safest way to remove a large tree that leans over a house or stands where nothing can be lowered safely. It lifts whole sections over the roof to the street, which cuts the time a climber spends in a damaged tree. Cranes need firm ground and room to set up, and on Fort Lauderdale's sandy soils near canals that has to be checked before anyone commits to one. Most residential trees do not need one; when one is worth the cost, the quote explains why.

Invasive trees

Australian pine, Brazilian pepper and melaleuca are invasive in Florida, and Fort Lauderdale lets them be removed without a permit or replacement tree. Australian pine also ranks among the weakest trees in hurricane winds in UF/IFAS studies. If you have them along a canal or a back line, removal is usually simpler than living with them.