Land O' Lakes is not a city. It is an unincorporated community in southern Pasco County, which means anyone looking for tree service in Land O' Lakes deals with county rules, a private trash hauler and, in many neighborhoods, a homeowners association before the first branch comes down.
Tree Service Tampa FL does not trim or remove trees. It is a free phone line. Call (689) 407-5379, tell the automated assistant you are in Land O' Lakes and what the tree is doing, and you are transferred to an independent, locally owned tree service company that works in southern Pasco. That company looks at the tree, sets its own price and is paid by you directly.
Three layers of rules
Because there is no Land O' Lakes city government, nothing sits between your lot and Pasco County except your own deed. That leaves three places a rule can come from.
- Pasco County sets permit rules for removing trees in every unincorporated part of the county.
- Florida law limits what the county can demand when a tree on a single-family lot is documented as a risk.
- Your association or deed may require approval for removing or replacing trees, separate from any county permit.
The last one is easy to miss. If your home is in a community with a homeowners association, read the covenants or ask the association's architectural review group before you sign a quote. A county permit does not answer an HOA's questions, and an HOA approval does not replace a county permit.
Pasco County tree permits in Land O' Lakes
From Land Development Code Section 802 and the county's residential tree removal checklist.
| Tree on a single-family lot | Permit needed? |
|---|---|
| Native shade tree such as a live oak or laurel oak, 5 inches DBH or more | Yes, unless another exception applies |
| Longleaf pine, 5 inches DBH or more | Yes; it is the one pine the county still regulates on these lots |
| Slash pine or other pine | Exempt on a single-family lot |
| Palm | Exempt on a single-family lot |
| Non-native or invasive tree | Exempt |
| Any tree documented as an unacceptable risk by an ISA certified arborist or Florida licensed landscape architect | No permit, fee or replanting can be required (Florida Statute 163.045) |
DBH is the trunk diameter measured about 4.5 feet above the ground. Exemptions can fall away when a tree is part of an approved landscape or replanting plan, so a company working in Pasco should check before cutting. The tree permit guide compares Pasco's rules with Hillsborough's and Pinellas's.
Pines, oaks and palms around the lakes
Most calls from southern Pasco involve the same handful of trees. UF/IFAS hurricane surveys found live oak and sand live oak among the trees most likely to keep standing, with cabbage palm one of the sturdiest of all, while laurel oak and turkey oak fared worse. Laurel oaks also tend to develop internal rot as they age, often from around 50 years, so a big one near the house deserves an inspection rather than an assumption.
Pruning young oaks well pays off for decades. UF/IFAS recommends pruning young live oaks every year for their first five years, then about every three years until around age 30, removing narrow-angled branches and keeping one dominant central leader so the tree stands up better to wind. Palms are the opposite case: take off only fronds that are fully brown and leave the green ones above horizontal, because over-trimmed palms are more likely to lose their crowns in a storm. The tree trimming and palm tree trimming pages go further.
Which power company owns the line?
Pasco County is served by three electric providers: Duke Energy, Tampa Electric and Withlacoochee River Electric Cooperative. Do not assume which one serves your street; check the name on your bill before you call. Each has its own number and its own rules.
| Provider | Report an outage or downed line | Worth knowing |
|---|---|---|
| Withlacoochee River Electric Cooperative | (352) 567-5133, or text OUT to (855) 938-3431 | Stay at least 50 feet from a downed line; call 911 in an emergency |
| Tampa Electric | 877-588-1010, or text OUT to 27079 | Keeps lines between poles clear; the line from pole to house is the owner's to keep clear, and it can disconnect a service line for trimming with two weeks' notice at 813-635-1500 |
| Duke Energy Florida | 800.228.8485, or text OUT to 57801 | Storm debris on your property is yours to clear; its crews clean up after routine maintenance |
Whichever it is, the safe steps do not change: treat any downed wire as live, keep everyone back, call 911 if a line is down or someone is hurt, and photograph the damage from a distance. Nobody, homeowner or tree company, should cut a tree that is resting on a wire until the utility has made it safe.
Storms and cleanup in southern Pasco
Inland does not mean out of reach. Hurricane Milton made landfall south of Tampa Bay on October 9, 2024, and Florida Public Service Commission outage reports during the storm showed tens of thousands of Pasco County customers without power on both Duke Energy and Withlacoochee River Electric Cooperative lines. Duke Energy later reported finishing more than 99 percent of its restoration work in Pasco.
Day to day, curbside service in unincorporated Pasco comes from licensed private haulers, so pickup days and yard waste limits depend on which hauler serves your street. Normal yard waste service is not built for a whole tree. Ask any company quoting a removal whether chipping, hauling and stump grinding are included; the removal cost guide shows what those extras tend to add.
Florida's rules for tree companies, plainly
People often assume a tree service must hold a state license. In Florida it does not: there is no statewide license for tree trimming or tree removal, and the state does not license arborists. A local business tax receipt is generally all a company needs to operate. The exception is chemical work. A company that sprays or injects trees for pay needs a pesticide license from the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services.
Things you can check
- A liability insurance certificate from the agent, naming you as holder
- Proof of workers' compensation coverage
- An ISA arborist certification number, checked online
- Who is pulling any Pasco County permit
Things that prove little
- Lettering on a truck or a business card
- A request to pay in full before work starts
- A verbal promise that a permit is not needed
- One quote taken at the door after a storm
Check the company yourself. Florida has no statewide license for tree trimming or tree removal, so a truck and a business card prove very little. Ask the company for a certificate of general liability insurance sent by its insurance agent, proof of workers' compensation coverage, and the ISA certification number of its arborist. A company that sprays or treats trees for hire needs a pesticide license from the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. You can confirm an ISA certification with the ISA's credential lookup (opens in a new tab).
Not sure if your Land O Lakes tree needs a trim, a removal or a permit? Call and describe it. The company you reach looks at the tree and tells you its price before anything starts.
How a Land O' Lakes 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 Tampa 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 Tampa Bay area. Those companies may pay Tree Service Tampa FL a referral fee. You never pay the line. How it works.