A large tree split in half low on the trunk

Tree Service in Hawthorne, FL

Name: Arbor Care Tree Service
Address: Gainesville, FL, 32608, US
Telephone: (352) 770-8733

Tree service in Hawthorne and the lakes country east of Gainesville, including Lochloosa, Little Orange Lake and the properties along State Road 20.

Call or text 352-770-TREE Free estimate

About 25 minutes east of Gainesville ISA Certified Arborist on staff Answered 24 hours a day

Alachua County

What tree work in Hawthorne actually looks like

East Alachua County is pine and lake country, and the tree work reflects it. Properties around Lochloosa and Orange Lake sit in soft, often wet ground, which changes two things at once: how the trees fail, and how we get equipment to them without leaving your yard looking like a construction site.

A lot of the houses out here went up on wooded lots where the trees were already standing. That is the classic setup for a pine that was perfectly fine for thirty years and is now thirty feet from a bedroom window with nothing around it to break the wind.

See all of our services

What we get called for around Hawthorne

Removing pines near houses on wooded lots, especially at the end of a wet season when the ground has stopped holding.
Getting equipment across soft ground. Mats and rigging are the difference between a finished job and a yard full of ruts you look at for a year.
Lakefront trees with roots that are washed out, undercut or sitting in standing water.
Storm cleanup, which runs heavy out here because most of the canopy on these lots has never been maintained by anybody.

Worth knowing. On soft ground, ask any company you call how they plan to get equipment to the tree. If the answer is that they will just drive across the yard, plan on ruts, and plan on fixing them yourself.

On the ground

Where we work in and around Hawthorne

Not a list we bought. These are the places our trucks actually go.

Downtown HawthorneLochloosaLittle Orange LakeJohnson LakeSR 20SR 26Gainesville-Hawthorne TrailGrove ParkIsland GroveMelrose side

Know your trees

The trees you actually have in Hawthorne

Different trees fail in different ways, and knowing which one is in your yard tells you most of what you need to know about what happens next. These are the ones we deal with here.

The treeWhat goes wrong with it hereWhat we do about it

Slash pineThe dominant tree on most of these lots. In saturated ground the root plate lets go and the whole tree lies down, usually in the direction it has been leaning all along.Look at the ground first. Where a pine is near the house and the soil is lifting, it comes out. Where it is sound, we thin around it.

CypressLakeside and in the low wet ground. Tough trees, but the ones on an eroding bank end up holding on with half a root system.Honest assessment. Cypress is usually worth keeping, and when it is not, rigging matters because there is nowhere to drop anything.

Red mapleWet ground specialist, fast growing, weak wooded. Splits at the union and sheds limbs young.Structural pruning while it is still young enough for that to work, and removal once the trunk has started to split.

Water oakAll through the older parts of town. Hollows at the base while the crown looks perfectly healthy, which is what makes it dangerous.Sound the trunk. A water oak that rings hollow at chest height is not a pruning job.

Not sure what you are looking at? Text a photo to 352-770-TREE and we will tell you what it is and whether it is a problem.

Services

What we do in Hawthorne

Tree Removal

Soft ground work. We bring mats and plan the route before a truck moves, because ruts out here go deep and stay.

Tree Removal in Hawthorne 02

Tree Trimming and Pruning

Pulling pines and water oaks back off rooflines, and deadwooding the oaks in town.

Tree Trimming and Pruning in Hawthorne 03

Stump Grinding

Wet ground grinds differently. We set the depth for what you are doing next, whether that is sod, a shed pad or nothing at all.

Stump Grinding in Hawthorne 04

Emergency and Storm Damage

This side of the county tends to lose power and access at the same time. We answer at any hour.

Emergency and Storm Damage in Hawthorne 05

Commercial Tree Service

Fish camps, lakefront rentals, churches and the commercial frontage along SR 20.

Commercial Tree Service in Hawthorne

Permits

Do you need a permit to take down a tree in Hawthorne?

Sometimes. It depends on the tree, the size, the property and which side of a city line you are standing on. Here is the honest version, including the part most tree companies never mention.

Florida law

A certified arborist can take the permit out of the picture entirely

Since 2019, Florida Statute 163.045 has said that no local government may require a permit, an application, a notice, a fee or any mitigation before you remove a tree on residential property, as long as you have documentation from an ISA Certified Arborist or a Florida licensed landscape architect that the tree poses an unacceptable risk. They also cannot force you to replant it.

There are real conditions attached, and they matter:

It covers single family detached homes. It does not cover commercial property, and an HOA can still have its own say.
The assessment has to happen on site, in person, following the ISA Best Management Practices for Tree Risk Assessment, Second Edition.
The finding has to be that removal is the only practical way to bring the risk below moderate. Not that the tree is ugly, or dropping leaves, or that you would rather have the sun.

We have an ISA Certified Arborist on staff, so we can do that assessment and write it up for you. What we will not do is write one for a tree that does not meet the standard. If your tree is healthy, we will tell you it is healthy, and then you decide what you want to do with that.

And the local rules in Hawthorne

In unincorporated Alachua County

On a single family lot of an acre or less, you need a permit to remove a native tree more than 20 inches across, a laurel or water oak more than 30 inches across, or anything the county lists as a specimen tree. On every other kind of property, including anything over an acre, the threshold drops to 8 inches. Diameter is measured four and a half feet off the ground, and the county charges one fee even when several trees are on the same application.

Inside Hawthorne city limits

Each town in this county writes its own tree ordinance, and they are not the same as each other or the same as the county. If your property sits inside the city line, that ordinance is the one that applies. We check which side of the line you are on before we quote the job, because it changes what we have to do and sometimes what it costs.

Ordinances get rewritten, and thresholds move. Treat this as a starting point rather than the final word, confirm anything that matters with the city or county directly, and let us check your specific property before anybody starts cutting. Alachua County tree permits: 352-374-5249.

Timing

Timing a job in Hawthorne

Almost every tree job is cheaper and easier before it becomes urgent. Here is when to move on what, in this town specifically.

Dry season, if you can wait

On soft ground the same job is cheaper and cleaner when the ground is firm. If the tree is safe to wait, waiting saves you money.

Before June for pines near the house

This is the number one call we get in Hawthorne after every storm. It is a much smaller job in May.

After a wet stretch, walk the lakefront

Undercut roots on a bank show up as a widening gap in the soil at the waterline before the tree ever leans.

BeforeAfter The same home after removal with a clean, undamaged yard

Large tree grown dangerously close to the side of a Gainesville home before removal

Drag the handle. A brick ranch with a large oak directly over the roof. Same day, no ruts through the lawn, and every limb, log and chip gone before the trucks left.

Certified arborist on staff

Someone who actually studied trees looks at yours before a saw comes out. You get a real opinion, not a sales pitch.

Fully insured

General liability and workers comp. Ask and we email you the certificate before we start work.

We follow the standards

ANSI Z133 for safety and A300 for pruning, on every single job. Plenty of crews do not.

We answer 24 hours a day

Storms do not wait for business hours. Call or text any time, day or night, any day of the year.

Questions

Questions we get from Hawthorne

Do you charge to come out to Hawthorne?

No. Estimates are free everywhere we work, including Hawthorne. A certified arborist looks at the tree, tells you what he actually thinks, and gives you a price in writing. You are not obligated to book anything.

How quickly can you get to Hawthorne?

About 25 minutes east of Gainesville. Regular work in Hawthorne is usually scheduled within the week. Emergencies go to the front of the line, and we answer the phone at any hour of any day.

Are you insured to work in Alachua County?

Yes. General liability and workers compensation, both current. Ask and we will email you the certificate before we start. If a company will not send you one, that is your answer about that company.

What does tree removal cost in Hawthorne?

It depends on the size of the tree, what is underneath it, whether we can get equipment to it, and whether you want the stump and the debris gone as well. Hawthorne specifics are covered further up this page. Nobody can give you a real number over the phone, which is why the visit is free. See what moves the price.

Do I actually need a permit in Hawthorne?

Maybe, and it depends on the tree and the property. There is also a Florida law that removes the permit requirement entirely when a certified arborist documents that the tree is a genuine risk. We explain both in the permits section above.

Can you do several trees in one visit?

Yes, and you should. One trip and one setup instead of three means the price per tree drops. If you have a removal, a couple of trims and an old stump, put them all on the same estimate.

Nearby

See all eleven towns

Free estimate

Get a free estimate in Hawthorne

Tell us what is going on. We will come out, tell you honestly whether the tree needs to come down, and give you the price in writing before anyone starts cutting.

Faster than filling out a form 352-770-TREE (352) 770-8733, call or text, 24 hours a day