St. Petersburg sits on the southern end of the Pinellas peninsula with Tampa Bay along its east side, and much of the city is low, flat and close to salt water. That shapes nearly every tree question here: what the surge did, what the wind did, and which rules apply when a homeowner wants something cut.
Tree Service Tampa FL is not a tree company and does not do the work. It is a free phone line. Call (689) 407-5379, tell the automated assistant you are in St. Pete and what the tree is doing, and the call is transferred to an independent, locally owned tree service company that covers your part of the city. That company visits, sets its own price and is paid by you.
The city writes its own tree rules
St. Petersburg is its own city inside Pinellas County, and it does not lean on the county for trees. The city's Urban Forestry program runs a tree code that sorts trees into three groups, Protected, Grand and Signature, and asks for a permit before a code-protected tree comes out. Grand trees are the big ones; Signature trees are a short list of showy non-natives the city wants to keep, such as banyans and royal poincianas.
Two things sit outside that city code. Mangroves along the waterfront are permitted through Pinellas County, under a county mangrove code with its own height limits. And Florida Statute 163.045 lets the owner of a single-family home skip local permits when an ISA certified arborist or a Florida licensed landscape architect documents that a tree poses an unacceptable risk. If you plan to remove a tree, the St. Petersburg tree removal page covers the city permit, its fees and how long it lasts. If you only need pruning, read tree trimming in St. Petersburg.
What 2024 did to St. Pete's trees
Two hurricanes, two weeks apart, hit the city in very different ways.
- 6.3 feetHelene's storm surge at St. Petersburg in September 2024, far above the old 3.97 foot record from 1985
- 101 mphMilton's peak gust at Albert Whitted Airport, the highest measured in Pinellas County
- 18.54 inchesRain at Albert Whitted in one day during Milton, a more than 1-in-1,000-year downpour
- 29% to 27%City tree canopy, 2024 to 2025, after about 6 percent of trees were knocked down
Helene stayed far offshore in the Gulf, yet its water filled the low neighborhoods on the bay. Shore Acres, the lowest-lying neighborhood in the city, was flooding hours before the peak and was blocked off by police that night; Snell Isle, Coquina Key, Venetian Isles and Weedon Island were under bay water by midday. Milton came two weeks later, made landfall south of Tampa Bay on October 9, and brought wind and rain instead. Its gusts shredded the fabric roof of Tropicana Field and toppled a construction crane downtown.
Trees that took salt, trees that took wind
Those two storms left two kinds of damaged trees, and they call for different decisions. A tree that went over in Milton's wind is usually plain to see: an uprooted oak, a split trunk, a limb hanging over a roof. City staff told council members they had over 2,000 reports of trees down in rights of way, roads and sidewalks after the storms, and about 600 trees fell in Boyd Hill Nature Preserve alone.
A tree that sat in Helene's surge is harder to read. Pinellas County Extension explained that soil soaked with seawater-strength salt can dry out almost any tree or shrub within 48 to 72 hours, and the salt grows more concentrated as the soil dries. Rain slowly washes it back out, so a tree that browned after the surge is not automatically dead. Extension advised against replanting in salt-flooded ground until plants start coming back on their own, and against fertilizing there. If a tree near your house browned after the surge, have it checked before you either write it off or ignore it.
Some trees in St. Pete simply stand up to storms better. In UF/IFAS surveys after Florida hurricanes, live oaks and cabbage palms were among the trees most often left standing, while laurel oaks did worse, partly because they tend to rot inside as they age. A big laurel oak leaning over the house is a reasonable first call; a sound live oak usually needs pruning, not removal.
Duke Energy and the wires over your yard
Duke Energy Florida supplies power to St. Petersburg, about 161,000 customers in the city. The city's 30-year franchise agreement with Duke expired on July 31, 2026. Both the city and the company have said service carries on, and City Council has paid for a study, due in 2027, of whether a city-owned utility would be practical. None of that changes who to call today about a tree on a line: Duke.
Milton showed how much trees and wires depend on each other. Three days after landfall, Florida Public Service Commission reports still listed about two thirds of Duke's Pinellas County customers without power.
If a tree brings down a wire
- Call 911 if a line is down or anyone is hurt.
- Report it to Duke Energy at 800.228.8485, or text OUT to 57801.
- Keep everyone, pets included, well away from the wire and anything it touches.
- Take photos from a distance for your insurance claim.
Never do these
- Walk through standing water near a fallen line.
- Touch a branch, fence or car that a wire rests on.
- Try to pull a limb off a line with a rope or pole.
- Let any tree crew start near a line before Duke has made it safe.
Getting rid of branches and logs
After Helene and Milton, city and contracted haulers picked up more than 2 million cubic yards of storm debris, more than the city collected after Idalia, Ian and Irma combined, and a final pass began on January 3, 2025. In ordinary months, debris is your problem to plan for.
The city runs five Brush Sites where residents can drop off yard waste and pick up mulch, open 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. every day except Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's Day. Bring proof that you live in the city, keep logs shorter than 5 feet and stumps lighter than 300 pounds, and leave out plastic, metal and lumber. For a load too big to haul yourself, book a special pickup at 727-893-7398 before putting anything out. Brush is not one of the free special pickup items: the city's page lists it at $22.67 per cubic yard, and the Sanitation Department gives an estimate based on the amount.
When you hire a company, debris rules change. The city asks that you either go to the Brush Site with the workers or sign its Brush Site Consent Form together with the company, and it will not take a load gathered from several addresses. Simplest of all: ask that hauling be part of the quote.
Hiring for a St. Pete job
- Say where the tree isFront yard, back yard, over a canal, near a Duke line or over the roof all change how the work is done.
- Ask about the city permitA company that works in St. Pete should know whether the tree is Protected, Grand or Signature and who applies.
- Mention salt or storm damageIf the yard flooded in 2024, say so; it changes how the tree should be judged.
- Get the cleanup written downChipping, hauling and any stump grinding belong on the quote.
For prices, the tree removal cost guide and tree trimming cost guide list published ranges and what moves them; real quotes vary. If the job is a palm, see palm tree trimming; if a stump is left from 2024, see stump grinding.
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 call from St. Pete 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.