People looking for tree service in Ocoee, FL, are usually dealing with one of two kinds of trees: big, older oaks in the neighborhoods that grew up around the old town, or younger trees in the subdivisions that came with the expressways. Knowing which kind you have, and whose rules cover your lot, is most of the battle.
This site and its phone number, (689) 407-5379, belong to a free connection service, not a tree contractor. When you call, an automated assistant asks for your Ocoee ZIP and what the tree is doing, then puts you through to an independent, locally owned company that takes jobs in Ocoee. Pricing, scheduling and the work itself are between you and that company.
Ocoee: a lake camp that became a commuter city
Ocoee's story starts at Starke Lake. Dr. J. D. Starke set up a camp there around 1850, and Captain Bluford Sims received a land grant in 1883. The town was platted in 1886 and named after the Ocoee River in Tennessee, a name drawn from Cherokee and said to mean "apricot vine place." It became a town in 1923 and a city in 1925.
Early residents later traveled to work near Lake Apopka, Florida's fourth largest lake at about 30,800 acres. In 1941 a levee drained some 20,000 acres of marsh on the lake's north shore for muck farming, and runoff from those farms polluted the lake for decades. A state water management district bought out nearly all the farms between 1988 and 2001 and has been restoring the lake since.
Then the roads arrived, and with them the houses. Today the city covers about 16.7 square miles, of which roughly a square mile is water, and its population nearly doubled from 24,391 in 2000 to 47,295 in 2020.
Ocoee homes by era, and what their trees may need
The highway opening dates are a rough guide to when each part of the city filled in. Your own lot may not fit its row, so treat this as a starting point for the conversation with the company, not a diagnosis.
| Era | What changed | Tree questions worth asking |
|---|---|---|
| Before 1959 | The old town around Starke Lake and the original downtown | Is this old oak sound at the base? Are big limbs reaching over the roof or across the street? |
| 1959 to 1990 | State Road 50 opened in 1959 and Florida's Turnpike in 1964 | Laurel oaks planted then may be near the end of the roughly 50 to 70 year life span UF/IFAS gives them. Is there decay? |
| 1990 to 2000 | State Road 408 was added to the local road network in 1990 | Are trees crowding the house, driveway or pool cage now that they are full size? |
| 2000 onward | State Road 429 opened in 2000, and the population nearly doubled by 2020 | Do young trees need structural pruning now, while it is cheap and easy? |
City rules, county rules and the state law over both
Ocoee writes its own land development rules, and Orange County states plainly that incorporated cities handle their own tree removal regulations. So for a lot inside city limits, the first call before any removal is to the City of Ocoee's permitting office, which runs an online permitting system. Ask whether your tree needs a permit and whether replacement trees are required.
Not every Ocoee mailing address is in the city. Some homes just outside the line answer to Orange County instead. The county's threshold is a trunk 8 inches thick, but it exempts most occupied houses on parcels no bigger than two acres from a stand-alone removal permit, while bigger home sites and undeveloped land still need one. The county arbor office answers questions at 407-836-5807 or Arborist@ocfl.net.
Over both sits Florida Statute 163.045. On a single-family home lot, no city or county may require a permit, fee or replanting when an ISA certified arborist or Florida licensed landscape architect documents, following the ISA risk assessment procedure, that removing the tree is the only practical fix. Ask the company you are connected with whether your tree qualifies and who will sign that documentation.
Checking an Ocoee tree from the ground
You do not need to climb anything to spot trouble. Walk around the tree on a dry day and look for these, then describe what you see when you call:
- Mushrooms or shelf fungus at the base or on the roots, which can mean decay inside.
- Cracked or lifted soil on one side of a tree that has started to lean.
- Dead limbs high in the crown, especially over the roof, driveway or a neighbor's fence.
- A pine browning from the top down, which can follow a lightning strike or beetles.
- Old wounds from construction, such as roots cut for a driveway, pool or utility trench. In a city that has built this fast, this is common.
Hurricane Irma passed west of the Orlando area as a Category 1 storm in the early hours of September 11, 2017, and Hurricane Milton crossed Central Florida in October 2024. Trees that came through those storms cracked or leaning may still be carrying that damage. UF/IFAS hurricane studies rate laurel oak, water oak and sand pine among the least wind-resistant trees, so give older ones near the house the closest look.
Power lines and cleanup in Ocoee
Trees near the lines
Start by confirming your utility from the bill. Duke Energy, for its customers, puts the drop wire between pole and house on the homeowner, and offers to shut that wire off without charge so a crew can cut near it. Trees fouling the bigger lines along the street are reported to Duke as a trimming request. If any wire is on the ground, keep people and pets away and dial 911.
What happens to the wood
Recycling is mandatory in Ocoee, and the city publishes collection zones and pickup days on its recycling calendar. Do not count on curbside pickup to take the trunk of a removed tree; check the city's yard waste limits, and ask whether the price includes hauling the wood, grinding the stump and raking up the chips, or whether those are extra.
Before an Ocoee job starts
Paperwork first: have the company's insurance agent send you its general liability certificate, get proof of workers' compensation (or a written explanation of an exemption), and write down the ISA number of the arborist who rates any risky tree. Get the scope in writing: the trees involved, the permit or risk documentation, cleanup, hauling and stump grinding. If you live in a subdivision with a homeowners association, check whether it has its own tree rules first.
Check the company yourself. Florida has no state license for tree trimming or removal, so ask the company for a certificate of general liability and workers' compensation insurance, and for the ISA certification number of its arborist. You can confirm a certification with the ISA's credential lookup (opens in a new tab).
Not sure what the tree needs? Call and describe it. The company you are put through to looks at the tree and tells you the price before any work starts.
What Ocoee homeowners call about
Big older oaks lead to removal or careful pruning. Storm-damaged trees and limbs on a roof are storm damage jobs. Leftover trunks and brush after a storm call for debris removal and hauling.
Tree Removal
Taking down a dead, leaning or unwanted tree safely, from small yard trees to big laurel oaks near the house, and what a fair quote includes.
Storm and Hurricane Tree Damage
Cleanup after a hurricane or a summer thunderstorm: hangers, split trunks, uprooted trees and what insurance usually covers.
Tree Debris Removal and Hauling
Hauling limbs, logs and storm debris, what curbside pickup will and will not take, and when you need a crew.
Tree Pruning and Oak Tree Care
Structural pruning for young trees and live oaks, the right season to prune oaks in Central Florida, and cuts to avoid.
Why Ocoee homeowners call the line
Inside city limits or just past them
A lot in the city goes through Ocoee's own permitting office, while a home just outside answers to Orange County's 8 inch rule and its two acre exemption. Give your ZIP on the call, and the independent company you reach can help work out which applies before it cuts.
Laurel oaks from the State Road 50 years
Neighborhoods that filled in after 1959 may have laurel oaks near the end of their roughly 50 to 70 year span. Tell the automated assistant, which answers 24/7, about any mushrooms or dead limbs you spotted from the ground, so the company hears it with your call.
Roots cut while the city was building
Fast growth left plenty of trees with roots trimmed for driveways, pools and trenches, and some still carry cracks from Irma or Milton. A locally owned company that works in Ocoee looks at the tree in person and quotes its own price, and the call costs nothing.
Young trees in the 429 subdivisions
Homes built after 2000 often have young oaks that need structural pruning now, while it is easy. You pay the company directly for that work, and this site shows how to check its insurance certificate and ISA arborist number first.
How an Ocoee call works
- Call any hourAn automated assistant answers (689) 407-5379 and asks what kind of tree work you need.
- Describe the jobGive your name, a callback number, your city or ZIP and what the tree is doing, including anything on a roof, a car or a line.
- Get put throughThe call goes to an independent, locally owned tree service company, which hears a short summary before it picks up.
- Deal with them directlyThat company looks at the tree, quotes, does the work and is paid by you. If it cannot answer, it gets your details to call back.
How this line works: Tree Service Orlando FL is a free phone line, not a tree service company. It does not trim, remove, quote or schedule tree work and holds no license or arborist certification. Calls are transferred to independent, locally owned tree service companies in the Orlando area. Those companies may pay Tree Service Orlando FL a referral fee. You never pay the line. How it works.
Areas next to Ocoee
The full list of Orlando-area cities the line answers for:
- All Orlando-area service areas
- Orlando
- Kissimmee
- St. Cloud
- Clermont
- Winter Garden
- Apopka
- Winter Park
- Altamonte Springs
- Longwood
- Lake Mary
- Sanford
- Oviedo
- DeLand