Tree Removal in Fort Myers, FL

Tree removal in Fort Myers usually involves a tree that has run out of options: a laurel oak with a hollow trunk leaning over the house, a slash pine killed by lightning or beetles, a palm with Ganoderma conks at the base, or a queen palm whose crown is already failing. On most lots the tree cannot simply be felled. Screen enclosures, tile roofs, fences, irrigation lines and neighbors' yards are all within reach, so most removals here are done in sections from the top down, with pieces lowered on ropes where a drop would hit something.

Signs a tree is past saving

Some cases are clear: a dead tree, a trunk split down a fork, mushrooms or fungal shelves at the base, a fresh lean with soil heaved up on one side, or large dead limbs throughout the crown. In palms, the clearest sign is a collapsed spear leaf, the newest frond at the center, which means the bud has died. Others are judgment calls, like a healthy tree planted too close to the foundation, or a large laurel oak that UF/IFAS research places in a lower wind-resistance group. We tell you what we see and whether pruning or cabling could keep the tree instead.

Diseased palms

UF/IFAS advises removing a palm that shows symptoms of lethal bronzing and tests positive for it right away, because label rates of antibiotic injections do not reverse symptoms. Neighboring palms that still look healthy can be tested and protected with preventive injections. For Ganoderma butt rot, UF recommends removing the infected palm and removing or grinding the stump, and disposing of the conks in trash bound for a landfill or incinerator rather than mulch. Replanting another palm in the same spot is risky because the fungus survives in the soil; a non-palm tree is the safer replacement.

Permits and paperwork

Florida statute 163.045 keeps a local government from requiring a permit, fee or replanting for a tree on a single-family residential lot when the owner has a signed onsite risk assessment from an ISA Certified Arborist or Florida-licensed landscape architect showing the tree is an unacceptable risk. Healthy trees, multifamily and commercial property, and trees shown on an approved site plan can still fall under City of Fort Myers or Lee County rules. Mangroves are exempt from that statute and have their own state rules. We flag anything that looks like it needs paperwork before we price the job.

Wood, fronds and stumps

Hardwood logs can be left in rounds, cut to length or hauled off. Brush is chipped, and chips can stay as mulch unless the tree was diseased. Palm trunks are heavy, fibrous and do not split like firewood, so most homeowners have them hauled away. Stump grinding is quoted as its own line and can be done the same day.