Heritage tree care and permitting in San Antonio covers the city's protected trees — often 24 inches in diameter and up — providing both the care these big oaks and pecans need and the permit documentation their protected status requires.
San Antonio protects its large trees, and for good reason — a mature live oak or pecan is decades in the making and worth real money to your property. But that protection means you can't simply remove or heavily alter a big tree without navigating the city's rules. Cowboy Tree Care And Services provides both the care these trees need and the permitting help their protected status requires.
The city's tree preservation ordinance generally protects significant and heritage trees (heritage status often applies to trees around 24 inches in diameter and larger, depending on species), with a limited exemption for trees that are dead, diseased, or an imminent hazard. Get it wrong and you're looking at fines and mitigation costs — so it pays to document properly before anything comes down.
Signs You Need Heritage Tree Care & Permitting
Large tree you want removed
A big tree that may be protected and needs a permit.
Building near a big tree
Construction that has to protect a heritage tree's roots.
Unsure of a tree's status
You don't know if your tree is significant or heritage.
Valued heritage tree in decline
A protected tree you want to save with proper care.
What Our Heritage Tree Care & Permitting Includes
Every heritage tree care & permitting job in San Antonio is scoped in writing, so you know exactly what you're getting. Here's what's covered:
Measure & identify
We confirm the tree's diameter (DBH), species, and whether it's significant or heritage.
Condition documentation
Assessing and documenting whether a tree qualifies for the dead/diseased/dangerous exemption.
Permit navigation
Guiding you through the city's development-services process for protected trees.
Preservation-first care
Structural pruning, cabling, and soil work that keep a heritage tree healthy and standing.
Construction protection
Root-zone protection plans so building near a protected tree stays compliant.
Mitigation planning
Understanding replacement or mitigation requirements when removal is unavoidable.
What Counts as a Protected Tree
San Antonio's ordinance measures trees by diameter at breast height (DBH) and separates 'significant' trees from larger 'heritage' trees, which carry the strongest protections and the steepest mitigation if removed. Species matters too. Before you plan a removal, addition, or major pruning on a large tree, it's worth confirming its status — we measure, identify, and tell you exactly what rules apply.
How We Help With Permits
We handle the documentation side so protected-tree work goes smoothly:
- Condition documentation: Assessing and documenting whether a tree qualifies for the dead/diseased/dangerous exemption.
- Permit navigation: Helping you through the city's development-services permit process for protected trees.
- Preservation-first care: Pruning and treatment that keep a heritage tree healthy and out of the removal conversation.
- Construction protection: Root-zone protection plans so building near a protected tree stays compliant.
- Mitigation planning: Understanding replacement/mitigation requirements when removal is unavoidable.
Preserve First
Our default with a heritage tree is to save it. These trees respond well to proper care — structural pruning, cabling, soil and root work, and disease management can keep a big oak or pecan standing and sound for decades more. Removal is the last resort, taken only when the tree is dead, hazardous, or genuinely unsalvageable, and always with the right permits in hand.
Our Heritage Tree Care & Permitting Process
- 1
Measure & identify
We confirm the tree's DBH, species, and protected status.
- 2
Document condition
Assess health and hazard, and whether an exemption applies.
- 3
Permit & plan
Navigate the city process and plan preservation or compliant removal.
- 4
Perform the work
Care, protection, or permitted removal with proper documentation.
Ready for Heritage Tree Care & Permitting in San Antonio?
Call for a free, written estimate — same-day and emergency service available across San Antonio, Bexar County & the Texas Hill Country.
What Affects the Price
We don't post one-size-fits-all prices, because no two trees are the same. Every job is quoted in writing after we see it. These are the factors that move the number up or down:
- Assessment and documentation scope
- Permit navigation and city requirements
- Care vs. permitted removal
- Tree size and mitigation obligations
Why San Antonio Chooses Us for Heritage Tree Care & Permitting
Preserve first
Our default with a heritage tree is to save it — removal is the last resort, done with permits in hand.
Rules handled
We know the DBH thresholds and the HB 2190 dead/diseased/dangerous exemption.
Fines avoided
Getting a protected removal wrong is far costlier than documenting it right up front.
Care that keeps them standing
Big oaks and pecans respond to proper care for decades more.
Heritage Tree Care & Permitting Across San Antonio & Beyond
We handle heritage-tree care and permitting across Bexar County's tree-conscious cities — Alamo Heights, Olmos Park, Terrell Hills, and beyond — where century-old live oaks and pecans are protected and prized.
Don't see your area? We serve 68 communities across Bexar County and the Hill Country.