- Now Hiring Tree Climber/Trimmer
From the Hill Country west of Austin to the prairie towns east of I-35, our ISA Certified Arborists plan every job in the communities listed below.
Capitol Tree Care is a local, family-owned tree service based in Austin and run by James and Emily Burtchell. James is an ISA Certified Arborist (TX-3593A) with a Bachelor of Forest Science from Texas A&M, and our team includes a second ISA Certified Arborist. That means the person who walks your property and writes your estimate understands tree biology, not just how to run a chainsaw.
Austin is home base, but our crews work well beyond the city limits. We regularly care for trees in Round Rock, Cedar Park, Pflugerville, Georgetown, Lakeway, Dripping Springs, Buda, Bastrop and more than a dozen other towns around Central Texas. If you live or own property in one of the communities on this page, you get the same arborists, the same crews and the same standards you would get in Austin.
We work in 22 cities and towns around Central Texas. Six of them have their own pages with neighborhood-level detail, local tree rules and FAQs, and the rest are listed by region below.
Round Rock sits right on the Balcones Escarpment, with thin limestone soil on the west side of I-35 and heavy Blackland Prairie clay on the east. We prune mature live oaks and pecans in older neighborhoods and correct deep-planted trees in newer communities near SH 130.
Cedar Park’s rocky Hill Country ground leaves roots very little soil to work with. Much of our work there is maintaining big live oaks over homes, cabling heavy limbs and helping trees recover after construction.
Pflugerville’s deep prairie clay drains slowly and compacts easily. We aerate root zones, remove declining ash and hackberry, and raise canopies to meet the city’s sidewalk and street clearance rules.
Dripping Springs sits at the eastern edge of the Hill Country, where thin, rocky soil covers limestone. Much of our work there is heritage oak care on older properties and tree protection for new construction in communities like Belterra and Headwaters.
Lakeway’s limestone bluffs above Lake Travis leave many trees with shallow, exposed root zones. We thin canopies on wind-exposed lots, care for mature live oaks around Lakeway City Park and handle careful removals on steep lakefront properties.
West Lake Hills is one of the most heavily wooded cities around Austin, with decades-old oaks on steep hillside lots. We focus on structural pruning, cabling and careful removals where access is tight.
Round Rock, Georgetown, Cedar Park, Leander, Liberty Hill, Hutto, Taylor and Pflugerville. These towns range from limestone hills on the west side to open farmland soil on the east, and many have fast-growing subdivisions where young trees need attention early.
Lakeway, Bee Cave, West Lake Hills, Dripping Springs, Driftwood and Wimberley. Properties out here tend to have mature live oaks on shallow, rocky soil, so careful pruning and oak wilt prevention matter on nearly every job.
Manor, Elgin and Bastrop. We help homeowners and landowners in these communities with removals, brush cleanup, pruning and plant health care.
Buda, Kyle, San Marcos and Lockhart. Our crews reach these towns down I-35 and SH 130 for pruning, removals, stump grinding and the rest of our services.
Don’t see your town? Call or text 512-913-6833 and we’ll tell you whether we can get to your property.
A tree in Lakeway and a tree in Manor can be the same species and still need completely different care. The Balcones Escarpment runs through the middle of our service area, roughly along I-35, and it splits Central Texas into two landscapes.
West of that line, trees grow in a few inches of rocky soil over limestone. Their roots spread wide and shallow, so drought, grade changes and compacted soil hit them hard. East of the line, the Blackland Prairie has deep, heavy clay that swells when it’s wet, cracks when it’s dry and holds water around the base of the tree.
Our arborists look at what your tree is actually growing in before recommending anything. On the west side that often means protecting a shallow root zone and timing oak pruning carefully. On the east side it’s more likely to be breaking up compacted clay with an Airspade or uncovering a root flare that was buried during construction.
You don’t get a smaller menu because you live outside Austin. Every service we offer is available throughout our service area, and each job starts with an ISA Certified Arborist looking at your trees in person.
Deadwood removal, crown raising, thinning and reduction, with oak pruning timed to lower oak wilt risk.
Controlled removal of dead, diseased or hazardous trees, plus stump grinding below grade.
Hand removal during pruning, with canopy thinning to slow regrowth.
Soil aeration and root collar excavation using compressed air instead of digging.
Support systems for weak unions and over-extended limbs.
Health diagnosis, risk assessment and written reports.
Deep-root feeding with organic amendments.
Native species selection and planting, backed by a 6-month warranty.
Haul-off of limbs and storm debris to local recycling stations.
Root zone and trunk protection plans for construction projects.
Every city in Central Texas sets its own tree rules, and they don’t line up neatly. In the City of Austin, a tree 19 inches or more in diameter on a one- or two-unit residential lot needs a permit before it can be removed. On commercial and multifamily properties in Austin, the threshold is 8 inches. We can measure your tree, tell you whether a permit applies, and submit the Austin permit for you.
Other towns use different size limits, protect different species, or apply their rules only during development. Before we cut a large tree anywhere in our service area, we’ll flag anything that looks like it could be protected so you aren’t surprised later.
Oak wilt is the one rule that applies everywhere we work. Live oaks and red oaks across Central Texas are at risk, and the disease spreads both through connected root systems and by beetles that are most active in spring. We avoid pruning oaks from February 1 through June 30, sterilize our blades before each job and seal oak cuts larger than half an inch. James is Texas Oak Wilt Qualified (TXOWQ-134).
James is a degreed forester, an ISA Certified Arborist and an ISA Qualified Tree Risk Assessor, and he has worked in tree care since 2007. Whether your property is in Georgetown or Wimberley, a certified arborist decides what your trees need before a crew ever shows up.
If a tree can be saved with pruning, cabling or soil care, we’ll tell you. If it can’t, we’ll explain why. Trees are living things, so we can’t promise a specific outcome, but we can give you a clear picture and a plan that makes sense.
Our fertilization uses organic amendments delivered to the root zone, not synthetic fertilizers. Combined with Airspade soil work, it gives stressed trees a better chance to recover in Central Texas heat and drought.
We carry general liability and workers’ compensation insurance, and a copy of our certificate is available on request. Before we leave, we clean up limbs, debris and sawdust and blow off driveways and sidewalks.
You can call or text the same number, and our office will help you get on the schedule, whether you’re in Austin or an hour down the road.
Possibly. The towns on this page are where we work regularly, but they aren’t the only places we’ve been. Call or text 512-913-6833 with your address and we’ll let you know.
Yes. Every estimate starts with an ISA Certified Arborist, no matter which town you’re in. The same arborists and crews that work in Austin handle jobs across the rest of our service area.
Not usually. Each city sets its own size limits and protected species, and some only apply their rules during development. We’ll point out any tree that may be protected and help you figure out what applies before work begins.
Both. We work with homeowners, land developers and businesses throughout Central Texas. For builders, we can put together a tree protection plan before construction starts.
The same way as anyone in Austin. Call or text 512-913-6833, or fill out the form on our contact page with your address and a quick description of what’s going on with your trees.
Whether your trees shade a home in Bastrop, a new build in Leander or a lake house in Lakeway, the first step is the same: an ISA Certified Arborist comes out, looks at your trees and gives you a free estimate with honest recommendations.
