Website Design in Austin for Tree Care and Builders

Updated November 2026 · Written and maintained by the Progression Agency strategy team

In Austin a live oak that measures 60 inches around at four and a half feet is a Protected tree, and one that reaches 24 inches across may be a Heritage tree that the City does not allow to come down without a variance. A homeowner who calls about that tree is asking a permit question before a price question. Website design in Austin for a tree service, arborist or builder answers it on the page: the size lines, the City’s way of measuring and the steps that follow. Progression’s people work from New York, build Austin sites without a local office, and travel to meet on request.

Sixty inches around at four and a half feet

A hypothetical homeowner wraps a soft tape around a backyard oak at chest height, and it reads 60 inches. The City of Austin’s own arithmetic does the rest: 60 divided by 3.14 is about 19 inches across, which is the line where a tree becomes Protected.

The next call that homeowner makes is a permit question before it is a price question. A tree service’s site that explains the measurement and the line gets the better call, and one that skips both gets a phone full of people asking what the rules are.

Website design in Austin keyed to the City’s tree sizes

The City Arborist Program administers the City of Austin’s Tree Ordinance and issues permits to remove or impact regulated trees. On private property the City regulates three classifications: trees 8 to 18 inches across, Protected Trees and Heritage Trees. The City passed one of the first tree protection ordinances in the United States in 1983 and the Heritage Tree Ordinance in 2010.

The service pages follow the City’s own size lines rather than “small, medium, large”, and they name the City Arborist page as the place the lines are kept. Website design in Austin, Texas for a tree business means the page a caller reaches from a search says what the lines are before it says anything about price.

What does the City call a regulated tree?

On private property it names three classifications: trees 8 to 18 inches across, Protected Trees and Heritage Trees. Which ones need a permit depends on the property type and the size.

The diameter ladder: what each size line asks of a service page

Each rung of the ladder is a size the City sets, what it requires, the sentence a service page carries and the question a quote form asks. A web development agency in Austin building for a tree firm can treat the ladder as the outline of the site.

The Heritage species are Texas ash, bald cypress, American elm, cedar elm, Texas madrone, bigtooth maple, all oaks, pecan, Arizona walnut and eastern black walnut. Removal of a Heritage tree is prohibited except as Section 25-8-641 of the City Code provides, and a Protected tree needs a permit to remove except as Section 25-8-621 provides.

Do the size lines change by species?

The 19 inch Protected line covers every species. The 24 and 30 inch Heritage lines apply to the listed species only.

Home lots below the Protected line

Trees under 19 inches are not regulated on residential property, though other permits may still apply. The page says so plainly and does not suggest that a small tree can be removed with no thought: other permits, and the neighbor’s side of the fence, still matter.

• State the 19 inch line in the first screen of every residential page.
• Say that other permits may apply, and name the City as the place to ask.
• Ask for the trunk measurement before offering a visit.
• Never describe a small tree as exempt from everything.

Commercial and multifamily lots from eight inches

On commercial and multifamily sites the survey requirement starts at 8 inches. A builder’s or property manager’s page asks whether a site plan is in progress and says the survey comes with the submittal.

• Open the page with the 8 inch survey line.
• Ask whether a site plan has been submitted.
• Offer a survey as part of a site plan package, not as a stand alone favor.
• Link the City Arborist page for the submittal rules.

Protected trees, every species, from 19 inches

At 19 inches a tree is Protected, whatever the species, and a tree permit is required for removal or impacts. If a regulated tree overhangs a property line, no more than 25% of the canopy may be removed without a permit.

• Say that all species are protected from 19 inches.
• Explain the 25% canopy line for an overhanging limb.
• Never promise a removal date.
• Ask for the species and the measurement together.

Heritage species from 24 inches, and the public process at 30

From 24 inches the listed species may be Heritage trees, and a variance is required for removal or impacts that exceed code requirements. At 30 inches and larger, proposed variances go through a public process.

• Route a Heritage size answer to a person, not an automatic price.
• Explain that a variance is the City’s decision.
• Describe the public process in one sentence and link the City’s page.
• Avoid any line that suggests a variance is likely.

A measuring page that works with a soft tape

The Trees on Residential Property page gives the City’s method. Use a flexible tape around the trunk at 4.5 feet above the ground, then divide the circumference by 3.14 to get the diameter.

Where does the tape go on a slope?

Measure 4.5 feet above grade from the high side of the slope. A swelling in the trunk is measured above or below the swell.

The City’s own example is a cedar elm with two stems of 18 and 16 inches: half of 16 is 8, and 18 plus 8 makes a 26 inch diameter. A homeowner’s figure is a starting point, and the arborist’s survey settles it.

• Offer a printable measuring card on one page.
• Add a field for the result on the quote form, with a note on how it was taken.
• Show the multi-stem example in the City’s own numbers.
• Keep the card current with the City’s page.

Pricing a tree service site built around the ordinance

What a tree firm pays depends on what is built: a measuring card, a quote form with photo uploads and the size ladder pages. The written proposal sets the price after scope, and published prices are subject to change.

What Progression lists for a build

Our website design and development page lists fixed-scope starting prices, and these four fit a site like this one.

Related work: tree service website design, landscaping website design and contractor website design.

When the tree is dead, sick or about to fall

A Tree Ordinance Review Application, or TORA, is required before removing a regulated tree, even if it is dead, diseased or an imminent hazard. The Dead, Diseased and Imminent Hazard Trees page puts the lines at 19 inches on one and two unit residential property and 8 inches on commercial and multifamily property.

The City asks for a close-up of the defect and the entire tree from root to crown, large, clear and well lit. During a review of up to 10 business days the status becomes Awaiting Update, Denied or Active, and the reviewer may ask to see the tree in person. The City Arborist does not diagnose, prune or remove trees.

The fee is not payable until the application passes a completeness check, qualifying applications have the fee waived, and the City’s blog says permits for dead, diseased or imminent hazard trees can be obtained at no cost. The plain advice: an urgent request page sets those expectations and promises no removal date.

What should an urgent request page ask for?

The property type, the measurement, the species and the City’s photo set: a close-up of the defect and the entire tree from root to crown.

• List the photo set the City asks for.
• Say that a regulated tree still needs the City’s permit first.
• Show the three review statuses in plain words.
• Leave out any removal date and any word like emergency approval.

Critical root zones and the builder’s lot

For builders and remodelers the root zone is the page that matters. The City sets three rules by distance from the trunk: no impacts in the inner quarter, no cut or fill over 4 inches in the inner half, and half of the ground in the full zone preserved without impact.

Who may request the paid consultation?

Only the property’s registered owner or the owner’s agent.

In many cases a TORA is completed as part of another permit application. An optional, paid Pre-plan Submittal Consultation brings City staff to the property, and only the registered owner or the owner’s agent may request it. See home builder website design for the rest of a builder’s site.

A Small Tree Fee Credit pilot offers a credit against qualifying development fees for preserving trees from 1 inch to under 19 inches on a single-family lot where a new residence is built. Applications claiming the credit are not accepted after May 28, 2027, and the pilot closes when its cap is reached.

• Name the three rings on the root zone page.
• Say that the TORA often rides along with the building permit.
• Say that only an owner or agent can request the paid consultation.
• State the pilot’s closing date as the City gives it, and never promise a credit.

Web design in Austin for crews who also work outside the city limits

The City’s tree ordinance applies in Austin’s Full and Limited Purpose jurisdictions and does not apply in the Extra-territorial Jurisdiction. A crew that works on both sides of that line needs a service area page that tells a caller which side an address falls on.

The page links the City’s Property Profile tool, which looks up a property’s zoning by address, and says nothing about any other jurisdiction’s rules. Web design companies in Austin, Texas that build for tree firms keep the page to that one job. For marketing across the metro, see our marketing agency in Austin page.

Which areas does the ordinance cover?

Austin’s Full and Limited Purpose jurisdictions. It does not apply in the Extra-territorial Jurisdiction.

• Ask the caller to look up the address with the Property Profile tool.
• State only the City’s own sentence about the ETJ.
• Leave county and other city rules to the offices that hold them.
• Keep one service area page, not a page for every suburb.

A quote form that asks the City’s questions first

The form asks in an order a person in the yard can follow, and it hands the answers to a person, not to an automatic price.

Route Heritage size answers to a person. A form that shows a price for a 30 inch Heritage oak makes a promise the City has not made.

• Use a photo field that accepts several images.
• Label each upload with species and diameter.
• Send Heritage size answers to a person for a call back.
• Confirm on screen that the City decides permits.

What a tree service site never says

A tree firm’s site is judged on what it leaves out as much as on what it carries. These lines never appear, because the City decides and the site cannot.

• Read every page for the words approved, guaranteed and cleared.
• Link the City’s pages by name next to any size line.
• Review the site when the City updates its pages.
• Keep fee amounts off the site; the City publishes its own.

Checks before the site takes its first tree call

Eight checks finish the job. The card lists them. A web development company in Austin that hands over a tree site should have done each one on launch day, and again when the City updates its pages.

For a tree firm’s broader site, see tree service website design. The City’s pages stay the reference for every number on this page.

Frequently asked questions