Riverview has grown fast. The 2020 census counted 107,396 people in the Riverview census area, up from 71,050 ten years before, and it still has no city government of its own. Apollo Beach, its neighbor on the bay, works the same way. For tree service in Riverview, that means county rules, county pickup and, for most homes, Tampa Electric lines.
Tree Service Tampa FL is not a tree company and sends no one out. It is a free phone line. Call (689) 407-5379, tell the automated assistant you are in Riverview or Apollo Beach and what the tree is doing, and the call is transferred to an independent, locally owned tree service company that works in south Hillsborough. That company sees the tree, sets the price and is paid by you.
Named for the river
Riverview was founded in 1885 on the north shore of the Alafia River, and it takes its name from that view. The river was settled earlier than that: in the 1830s families put down roots on the south bank at a place called Peru, which lasted close to a hundred years. Today the river winds past subdivisions, parks and older lots with big oaks, and it still sets the mood whenever a tropical system stalls over the county.
Apollo Beach has a different origin. The land along the bay south of Riverview was low mangrove shore that most people thought could not be built on. Starting in the late 1950s, developers dredged finger canals and piled the fill up into lots high enough for houses. Today the community has roughly 55 miles of navigable canals, and homes whose back yards end at the water.
River flood, canal surge: two different tree problems
In 2024 south Hillsborough got both. What it means for the trees depends on which kind of water reached your yard.
Along the Alafia (Riverview)
After Hurricane Milton made landfall south of Tampa Bay in October 2024, the Alafia rose to a major flood stage, cresting at 24.34 feet at the Lithia Pinecrest Road gauge upstream, the highest flooding recorded at Lithia since 1933. The National Weather Service warning covered the stretch from U.S. 301 to Lithia-Pinecrest Road. Deputies reported more than 6 feet of water in places along the river, county crews rescued more than 500 people and 100 pets, and in Riverview a small creek bridge washed out.
Fresh floodwater that sits for days starves roots of air and softens the ground they grip. Trees near the bank can lean or tip weeks later.
Along the canals (Apollo Beach)
Hurricane Helene in late September 2024 pushed bay water into Apollo Beach. The county named Apollo Beach, Ruskin and Town 'n' Country as its hardest hit areas, all under mandatory evacuation orders. One resident described bay water and even fish coming into his home, and flooding damaged the wastewater pumps that serve Apollo Beach and Ruskin.
Salt water is the added problem here. It pulls moisture out of roots and leaves, so scorched leaves can show up long after the water has gone.
The river has done this before. National Weather Service records from 1993 show the Alafia at Riverview cresting at 17.72 feet, nearly five feet over its 13 foot flood stage. If your lot sits low near the river or a canal, treat a tree that was standing in water as one to have checked, even if it looks fine today.
The county's tree rules in Riverview
Neither Riverview nor Apollo Beach is a city, so there is no town hall tree code to look up. Unincorporated Hillsborough County sets the rules. On a lot that already has a home, the county generally requires a permit before removing a tree with a trunk 12 inches or more in diameter at breast height, which is measured 4.5 feet above the ground. Every street tree needs a permit, whatever its size. Permits are granted for trees that are unhealthy or causing damage that cannot be fixed another way.
- 12 inchesTrunk size that generally triggers a county permit on a developed home lot
- $81.65County application fee, filed online through HillsGovHub
- 5 daysCounty turnaround when a certified arborist supplies the assessment
Homeowners can apply themselves, or the tree company or arborist can apply for them. When an arborist's report comes with the application, the county skips its own field visit and says it issues a result in five days. Oaks of 34 inches or more in good condition can qualify as Grand Oaks, which come with stricter rules for both removal and pruning, and the fast arborist route is not available for them.
Florida law adds one more path. Under section 163.045 of the Florida Statutes, a local government cannot require a permit, fee or replanting to remove a tree from a single-family home lot when an ISA certified arborist or a Florida licensed landscape architect documents that the tree poses an unacceptable risk to people or property. If a subdivision has a homeowners association, its own approval rules can still apply on top of the county's, so check before work starts.
Which trees to worry about first
South county yards mix native oaks and pines with palms that went in when the subdivisions were built. Their storm records differ. UF/IFAS surveys after Florida hurricanes found that live oak, sand live oak and cabbage palm stood up to wind far better than laurel oak. Among palms, cabbage palms held on better than queen palms and Washingtonia palms. Laurel oaks also tend to rot from the inside as they get older, so a big one can look healthy from the street and still be hollow.
A practical order of business for a Riverview or Apollo Beach lot:
- Any tree that stood in floodwater and now leans, has cracked soil at its base or shows lifted roots.
- Large laurel oaks over the roof, the driveway or the pool cage.
- Salt-scorched trees near a canal that still have not put out new leaves the following spring.
- Queen palms with brown, hanging fronds near the house. Remove only dead fronds; never strip the green ones.
The tree removal page explains what a takedown involves, and tree trimming covers pruning oaks and palms the right way before storm season.
Power lines in south Hillsborough
Tampa Electric's service area covers most of Hillsborough County, which takes in Riverview and Apollo Beach; your bill names your provider. Tampa Electric trims trees around the lines that run from pole to pole. The service drop from the pole to your house is the homeowner's to keep clear, and Tampa Electric can temporarily disconnect it so a tree company can work safely if you call 813-635-1500 about two weeks ahead.
When a tree is on a wire
- Assume the line is live and keep everyone at least 30 feet away.
- Call 911 if a line is down or someone is hurt.
- Report it to Tampa Electric at 877-588-1010 or text OUT to 27079.
- Take photos from a safe spot for your insurance claim.
Do not
- Touch the tree, a fence or a car the wire rests on.
- Walk through standing water near a fallen line.
- Try to pull or cut limbs off the wire.
- Let anyone start cutting before the utility clears the line.
Getting the wood hauled
Unincorporated Hillsborough collects yard waste with the regular trash service. Each week a household can set out up to 2 cubic yards, about twelve 30 gallon containers, rising to 3 cubic yards in February, March and April. Limbs must be shorter than 4 feet and thinner than 6 inches, containers can weigh no more than 50 pounds, and everything goes within 6 feet of the curb. Branches, brush, palm fronds and leaves all qualify.
A full removal makes far more than that, and the county says tree trimming businesses cannot use a resident's account to dump their waste; they pay tipping fees at county facilities. So ask every company you talk to whether chipping, hauling and the stump are in its price.
After Milton the county ran a separate storm debris program, asking residents to put home debris and yard debris in different piles at the curb. By early February 2025 haulers had removed about 99 percent of more than 4.8 million cubic yards of debris across nearly 900 miles of unincorporated roads. Residents who used county drop-off sites needed a photo ID showing their address and a copy of their tax bill, and anyone who hired a trimmer to haul debris had to sign a county form for the contractor to show. Each storm's program has its own rules and deadlines, so watch county updates rather than relying on the last one.
Hiring well in Riverview and Apollo Beach
- Ask about the waterIf the tree stood in a flood or surge, ask the company to check the roots and lean, not only the canopy.
- Settle the permitFind out whether the tree is 12 inches or larger and who will file with the county, or whether an arborist's risk assessment applies.
- Plan the accessCanal lots and fenced back yards can limit equipment. Ask how the wood will come out and what protects the seawall, lawn and pool cage.
- Write down the cleanupHauling, chipping and stump grinding should each be on the quote. See the tree removal cost guide for published ranges.
Florida does not license tree trimmers or removal companies, so the paperwork you ask for is your protection.
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 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.
How a Riverview 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.