- Now Hiring Tree Climber/Trimmer
Science-based tree care for Pflugerville homes and businesses, from Falcon Pointe and Blackhawk to the neighborhoods around Lake Pflugerville and historic downtown.
14+ Years
Serving Central Texas since 2012
ISA Certified
Arborists on staff • Oak Wilt Qualified
4.9 ★
166 Google reviews
Free
Estimates
Pflugerville sits on the Blackland Prairie northeast of Austin, where the land flattens out and the soil turns deep, dark and heavy with clay. Gilleland Creek and Wilbarger Creek wind through town, and Lake Pflugerville’s 3-mile trail off Weiss Lane is one of the city’s favorite spots. Pflugerville’s streets are lined mostly with hackberry, live oak, cedar elm, crapemyrtle and Arizona ash, and many of those trees are now reaching maturity.
Prairie clay is tough on trees. It swells when wet, cracks when dry, drains slowly and compacts easily, which can smother roots and bury root flares. Oak wilt threatens the city’s live oaks, and fast-growing ash and hackberry get weak with age. Pflugerville has also grown by about 45% since 2010, with new neighborhoods along SH 130, SH 45 and Kelly Lane. A professional tree trimming service in Pflugerville, TX keeps mature trees safe and young trees on track.
Capitol Tree Care has served Central Texas since 2012, and our crews are in Pflugerville regularly via SH 45, Pflugerville Pkwy and Pecan St. We prune shade trees for sidewalk and street clearance, remove declining ash and hackberry, grind stumps, restore trees struggling in clay and help builders protect trees during construction. Every recommendation comes from an ISA Certified Arborist.
Everything we do in Austin, we do in Pflugerville, from the neighborhoods around Lake Pflugerville to the new homes along SH 130 and Kelly Lane. Every job is planned by an ISA Certified Arborist who understands how trees grow in Pflugerville’s heavy Blackland Prairie clay.
Pflugerville’s live oaks and cedar elms grow fast in the open prairie, and many neighborhoods like Highland Park and Springbrook now have trees big enough to hang over roofs, sidewalks and streets. We prune to industry standards (never topping), including crown cleaning, raising and thinning, so your trees stay healthy and meet the city’s clearance guidelines of 8 feet over sidewalks and 14 feet over streets. Oak pruning is scheduled outside the February–June oak wilt window.
Services include:
Arizona ash and hackberry are among Pflugerville’s most common trees, and both are prone to decay and limb failure as they age. When a tree in Falcon Pointe or Cambridge Heights is dead, dying or leaning toward the house, an ISA Certified Arborist confirms removal is truly needed first. Then our insured crew takes it down safely and cleans up completely. If it’s a large oak, pecan or cedar elm on a site being developed, we’ll flag Pflugerville’s heritage tree rules before any cutting.
Services include:
An old stump in a Blackhawk or Villages of Hidden Lake yard is more than an eyesore. In Pflugerville’s clay it can sprout suckers and attract pests for years. We grind stumps and surface roots below grade and leave loose soil ready for sod or a new tree. Stump grinding can be scheduled with a removal or booked on its own.
Services include:
Pflugerville’s Blackland clay is dense, drains slowly and compacts under foot traffic and equipment, which starves roots of oxygen. Our Airspade uses compressed air to fracture compacted soil in the root zone and expose buried root flares without cutting roots. It’s one of the best things you can do for young trees in newer neighborhoods along SH 130 and Kelly Lane, where trees were often planted too deep in heavy clay.
Services include:
Pflugerville’s flat, open prairie gives spring storms plenty of room to build, and wind puts real stress on mature trees with weak unions or long, heavy limbs. We install EHS steel cables, dynamic cable systems and brace rods to support at-risk limbs and trunks. For a large live oak or pecan in an established area near Old Town or Pfluger Park, cabling can mean keeping the tree instead of losing it.
Services include:
Owner James Burtchell (ISA Certified Arborist TX-3593A, Texas Oak Wilt Qualified, ISA Tree Risk Assessment Qualified) and our certified team diagnose tree problems common in Pflugerville: oak wilt, drought stress, root issues in clay, and decay in aging ash and hackberry. We assess structural risk, explain what we find in plain language and provide written reports with photos when you need them. It’s a smart first step before a big removal or after buying a home.
Services include:
Pflugerville’s alkaline clay can lock up nutrients even when they’re present, and newer yards often lost their topsoil during construction. Our deep-root feeding method delivers organic amendments directly into the critical root zone. We never use synthetic fertilizers, so less runoff reaches Gilleland Creek and Lake Pflugerville. Soil lab testing lets us match each program to your property.
Services include:
Pflugerville is a Tree City USA community, and its own tree inventory recommends planting more diverse species like bur oak, Shumard oak, sycamore, soapberry and bald cypress. Our arborists help you pick native trees that handle heavy clay and Central Texas summers, source them from local nurseries and plant them properly. Fall is the best time to plant, and every planting comes with our 6-month warranty.
Services include:
Ball moss collects on the shaded inner branches of live oaks and cedar elms around Pflugerville, especially on older trees near Gilleland Creek and in the historic downtown area. It doesn’t feed on the tree, but heavy clumps weigh down limbs and look unsightly. Mistletoe is a true parasite that weakens branches over time. We remove both by hand during pruning.
Services include:
Between spring storms and big pruning jobs, brush piles add up quickly in Pflugerville yards. We haul away limbs, storm debris and overgrowth and take the organic material to local recycling centers, where it becomes mulch and compost. Driveways and sidewalks are cleaned before we leave.
Services include:
Pflugerville has grown by about 45% since 2010, and new construction along SH 130, SH 45 and Kelly Lane hasn’t slowed down. Construction equipment compacts clay soils and severs roots, and trees often don’t show the damage for years. Our ISA Certified Arborists create tree protection plans for builders and homeowners, including root zone fencing, mulching, trunk wrapping and Airspade trenching. If the project is already finished, we can put together a recovery plan.
Services include:
Trees on the Blackland Prairie. Pflugerville’s soil is deep, alkaline clay with very little rock. It shrinks and cracks in summer, swells in wet weather and holds water around roots. Along Gilleland Creek and Wilbarger Creek, and around Lake Pflugerville, those conditions stress trees in different ways than the limestone hills west of Austin. We plan pruning, fertilization, aeration and planting around Pflugerville’s clay, not a one-size-fits-all approach.
Every part of Pflugerville. Our crews come in on SH 45, SH 130 and Pflugerville Pkwy and work across the city: along Pecan St and Dessau Rd, off Heatherwilde Blvd and Kelly Lane, and near Weiss Ln and Wells Branch Pkwy. We serve Falcon Pointe, Blackhawk, Fairways of Blackhawk, Avalon, Sorento, Villages of Hidden Lake, Highland Park, Springbrook, Cambridge Heights, Carmel and the historic homes around East Main Street and Railroad Ave.
What Pflugerville trees need most. The city’s own 2024 street tree inventory found about 1,255 young trees that need training pruning, about 1,661 mature trees that need maintenance pruning and roughly 2,000 private trees overhanging streets and sidewalks. That matches what we see. In older areas near Pfluger Park and downtown, we remove declining Arizona ash and hackberry and prune mature oaks. In newer communities near Stone Hill Town Center, Avalon and Blackhawk Golf Club, we correct deep-planted trees, aerate compacted clay and shape young trees before problems start.
Pflugerville’s tree rules and oak wilt. Pflugerville requires 8 feet of clearance over sidewalks and 14 feet over streets, which applies to private trees too. It prohibits topping, and it requires the city’s permission before anyone prunes or removes a tree on public property. During development, trees 8 inches and larger are regulated, and heritage oaks, pecans, cedar elms and other listed species 25 inches and larger need City Council review before removal. We also follow the Texas A&M Forest Service guideline of no oak pruning February through June, and our owner is Texas Oak Wilt Qualified (TXOWQ-134).
Our owner holds a Bachelor of Forest Science from Texas A&M, is an ISA Certified Arborist and is an ISA Qualified Tree Risk Assessor. Many local tree services don’t have a certified arborist at all. Every Capitol Tree Care estimate starts with one.
Pflugerville bans topping and expects tree work to meet ANSI A300 and ISA best practices. That’s how we already work, so your trees stay healthy and your property stays compliant with the city’s clearance rules.
Heavy prairie clay causes buried root flares, compacted root zones and slow drainage. Our Airspade and organic plant health care programs fix problems that pruning alone can’t.
If your tree can be saved, we’ll tell you how. If it can’t, we’ll explain why. Our clients consistently say our consultations are the most informative and honest they’ve had.
Capitol Tree Care is owned by James and Emily Burtchell and carries general liability, workers’ compensation and auto/equipment insurance. Our crews leave your property spotless.
Capitol Tree Care provides a trusted tree trimming service in Pflugerville, TX and throughout the surrounding northeast Travis and Williamson County communities. From Round Rock and Hutto to the north to Manor and North Austin to the south, our certified arborists are close by.
The cost depends on how many trees need work, how large they are, how close they are to your home or power lines and the type of pruning they need. Raising a few young trees for sidewalk clearance costs much less than structural pruning on several mature live oaks. We provide free, itemized estimates after an ISA Certified Arborist sees your trees in person.
Pflugerville’s code calls for at least 8 feet of clearance over sidewalks and 14 feet over roadways, and that applies to private trees hanging over them. The city’s 2024 tree inventory found about 2,000 private trees overhanging streets and sidewalks. We can raise your canopy to meet those guidelines using proper pruning cuts, never topping, which the city prohibits.
Pflugerville’s tree preservation rules mainly apply during development and site work. In those cases, trees 8 inches and larger are regulated, and heritage trees (oak, pecan, cedar elm, American elm, bald cypress and walnut 25 inches or larger) need City Council review before removal. Any tree on city property needs the city’s written permission. Rules can change, so check with the City of Pflugerville before removing a large tree. We’re glad to help you figure out what applies.
Prune oaks in Pflugerville between July and January. Texas A&M Forest Service advises against pruning or wounding oaks from February 1 through June 30, when the beetles that spread oak wilt are active. We sterilize tools between jobs and paint every oak cut, whatever the season.
Stump grinding cost depends on the stump’s diameter, the number of stumps, surface root grinding and access to the yard. We grind below grade and leave soft soil so you can plant grass or a new tree. We quote stump grinding for free, either with a tree removal or on its own.
Yes. We work throughout Pflugerville, including Falcon Pointe, Blackhawk, Avalon, Sorento, Villages of Hidden Lake, Highland Park, Springbrook and the historic downtown area. We also serve nearby Round Rock, Hutto, Manor and Wells Branch. Call 512-913-6833 to confirm your address.
Often, yes. Pflugerville’s alkaline Blackland clay can lock up nutrients, and many newer yards lost their topsoil during construction. Our deep-root feeding delivers organic amendments straight into the root zone, and we can pair it with Airspade soil aeration to relieve compaction. A soil lab test tells us exactly what your trees are missing.
Whether your trees shade a home near Lake Pflugerville or a new build off Kelly Lane, our ISA Certified Arborists are ready to help. Request a free estimate for tree trimming, removal or plant health care anywhere in Pflugerville and the surrounding area.
