Lawrence Tree HQ is a tree service contractor in Lawrence, KS for tree removal, tree trimming and stump grinding on house lots and rentals. Before anything comes down, we ask whether the bad limb can come off and the tree can stay. Often it can. Kansas gusts and ice loads find the weak crotch first, so the look starts there.
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Say where the tree stands and what worries you about it. A call back follows with a first range.
Lawrence has notorious sudden microbursts and ice storms, which can leave unseen cracks that make a tree fall when the next big one comes. We always recommend asking the crew to show their city license and proof of liability insurance before the work starts, in case a heavy limb hangs over your garage. That license is only issued to crews with insurance, which ensures that if a branch falls the wrong way, your property is protected.
A machine with a spinning wheel turns the stump into chips 5 inches or more below the grass. Stump grinding usually costs $179 to $309 for one stump, and it doesn't matter if it's a big one or a small one, because of the 2-hour labor minimum. A second stump during the same visit is cheaper than two visits at different times. Hauling the chips and filling with soil costs extra, and if you want grass there again, ask for 6 to 8 inches deep.
The usual process for tree trimming and crown thinning is that we take out dead wood. Limbs that rub on each other are cut back, and the top is thinned so wind blows through it. NC State Extension says never more than one-third of the leaves in one year, and in our view a good trim takes much less. The city tree list says trees with several trunks break more under snow and ice, so we check where the trunks join, not only the ends.
Yard trees, maple or oak, are usually taken down in pieces, not dropped whole. We start with the top and go piece by piece from a climber or a bucket truck, and the heavy pieces are lowered on ropes past the roof, so they don't cause any damage. The price is $360 to $690 for a 30-foot tree and about $960 to $1,850 for an 80-foot one. It depends on the height, but also on the lean of the tree, on the roof or fence below, and on hauling the wood away.
If you resort to grinding, the roots stay in the ground and slowly rot. With full stump and root removal, the whole root ball is dug out. It's only worth it when a patio, fence or new tree needs to go in the same spot. It counts as digging, so you need to notify 811 two full business days in advance. Within two feet of a marked line it's shovels only, so expect a bigger hole and fill dirt.
For emergency tree removal after wind and ice, we start with any trees that fell on a house or ones blocking a driveway. Next we remove the broken limbs hanging over the walkways. Same-day work often costs 2 to 3 times the normal rate, but that can be justified, especially in cases such as 2002, when an ice storm left more than 10,000 customers without power, or the 2006 microburst, a sudden downdraft with 70 to 90 mph winds across town.
Emerald ash borer was confirmed in Douglas County in 2015, and the city estimates more than 10,000 ash trees in Lawrence, public and private. Of the ash it inspected in 2016, half were already poor or dead. A dead ash takes longer to climb safely, so the climber spends more of the day tied in. In our view, dead wood hanging over a house is worth taking down in the dormant months, before spring storms arrive.
Lawrence code wants 8 feet of clearance over every sidewalk and street, with limbs kept off street lights and corner sight lines. If a limb hangs low, the city can send notice, wait 5 days, then trim it and bill the owner (section 18-111). Check it yourself with a tape measure at the lowest limb over the walk. Raising a crown by a few feet is a short job.
Under OSHA 1910.333, a worker without line training stays 10 feet from a live overhead wire, measured from the tip of the longest pole saw held. A limb resting on the drop to your house is a call to Evergy at 888-471-5275 before it is a call to anyone with a saw. Do not pull on a branch that touches a wire, even a small one.
K-State Extension calls Scots pine plantings in eastern Kansas devastated by pine wilt, a nematode carried from tree to tree by a sawyer beetle. Austrian, white and mugo pines are hosts too. K-State's advice is to sample an infected pine or cut it down by May 1, before the beetles come out. That date sets the calendar for every pine job in spring.
Give the street, a rough height and whatever sits below the crown. The call back brings a range and the parts that could raise or lower it.
Renters occupy 56.7 percent of Lawrence homes (Census ACS 2024). Landlords and property managers place many of the calls, and each wants a price per address.
One contact, several houses, a separate quote line per address. Tenants park under the trees, so the date is set with the manager and the tenants both.
Since 1994 Lawrence has drawn a Master Street Tree Plan for new development, and new subdivisions plant one shade tree per 40 feet of frontage. Those rows grow into each other. A board gets them pruned on one schedule, any replacement priced apart.
The Land Development Code asks a development site to keep at least 20 percent of its mature trees of acceptable species, and to replace credited trees one for one if they go. The clearing plan marks the keepers before the mulcher starts.
Tree work that blocks a sidewalk or street needs a city right-of-way permit, $50 base, applied for 3 to 20 business days ahead depending on traffic control. Municipal Services answers at 785-832-7800.
After an ice storm the entrances and parking lot get cleared first, then hangers over the walks. The city compost site turns away stumps, root balls and logs over 8 inches, so the big wood leaves on the trucks.
A risk assessment asks which part could fail and where it would land. The ANSI A300 levels run from a walk-by look, to a 360-degree ground inspection using a sounding mallet and probe, to aerial or decay-testing work at a premium. For most yards a Level 2 answers the question. Lawrence code makes the owner responsible for removing a dead, diseased or dangerous tree, so keep the written result.
Homewyse puts land clearing in zip 66044 at $1.09 to $1.46 a square foot, or $543 to $732 for 500 square feet, with a 3-hour minimum and any tree removal on top. Brush and volunteer saplings go through the chipper. On a building lot, tie ribbon on the trees you want kept before anyone starts the saw.
A crane earns its cost when a tree stands over the house with no place to drop wood and no safe way to climb it. It lifts whole sections over the roof and sets them in the drive. On a Lawrence street the crane also needs a sidewalk closure under the right-of-way rules, so the permit sets the earliest date.
A cable between two leaders works like a turnbuckle on a sagging gate. It keeps the halves from spreading under gusts and ice, and it does nothing to heal the split. The standard is ANSI A300 Part 3, and the cable usually sits roughly two-thirds out from the weak crotch toward the tips. We would rather cable a sound oak than take it down.
Topping cuts big limbs back to stubs, and NC State Extension calls it an inappropriate practice that invites decay. Lawrence bans it on street and park trees, any stub over 3 inches. Crown reduction shortens a limb to a side branch at least one-third as thick as the cut limb. The tree ends up lower and stays alive.
First of all, to cut or trim trees for money in the city, one needs a license from the City Clerk. To get this license, one needs to pass the exam and have proof of liability insurance. Homeowners may work on their own trees without one, if they don’t get paid for it. But the strip by the curb is city right of way, and the city’s permit page names tree work there. Every truck and chipper must have the company name on both sides, in letters three inches high. Also, check the truck door before the quote, and in case the name isn’t there, you should ask about it.
Lawrence Tree HQ prices limb by limb, standing in your yard.
A friend of mine had a case when he was renovating his home. The crew doing the work were all extremely friendly, so he paid them and they left. When he started to check what they did, it turned out that half of the things they agreed on were not done properly. That created a huge challenge for him to get them back to do the work, and they kept telling him, no, we are busy now, sorry, let’s do it some time later. Now it’s imperative for you to first check every line of the quote before you pay.
The paperwork usually takes longer than the cutting.
| Step | Typical time | What sets it |
|---|---|---|
| Kansas 811 locate | 2 full working days | State law |
| City right-of-way permit | 3 to 20 business days | Traffic control |
| One stump ground | 1.2 to 1.8 labor hours | Stump size |
| Pine wilt removal | Before May 1 | Beetle flight |
The locate and the permit run side by side, so a street-side removal with a stump needs about a week. A trunk lying on a home waits for neither.
Prices below are for the Lawrence area.
| Job | Typical range | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Removal, 20 ft tree | $240 to $460 | HomeBlue |
| Removal, 40 ft tree | $480 to $920 | HomeBlue |
| Removal, 60 ft tree | $720 to $1,390 | HomeBlue |
| Removal, 80 ft tree | $960 to $1,850 | HomeBlue |
| Trimming, 3-person crew | $200 to $260 an hour | HomeBlue |
| First stump ground | $179 to $309 | Homewyse |
| Each added stump | $30 to $60 | HomeGuide |
| Land clearing | $1.09 to $1.46 a sq ft | Homewyse |
| Same-day storm work | 2 to 3 times standard | HomeGuide |
HomeBlue’s Lawrence page (March 2025) draws on tree services and its own staff. Homewyse is zip 66044, 2026, without hauling or backfill. HomeGuide is national. Your own number comes after someone has stood under the tree.
A lean toward the house. A roof, fence or wire where the pieces would land, since each piece then goes down on a rope. No gate wide enough for the loader, so the wood is carried out by hand. Storm hours, when every crew in Douglas County is booked.
Keep the wood for the fireplace and skip the haul-away. Leave the stump, or have it ground and keep the chips for beds. Group several trees into one visit, which HomeGuide puts at 10 to 25 percent off per tree.
I would honestly take all three. The first one especially, if I have a fireplace to feed. Leaving the stump looks like a no-brainer, but I would get rid of it if it’s rotten or doesn’t appeal to my view. And if nothing is hazardous, it makes sense to group the trees and get rid of them in one go.
Lawrence Tree HQ removes, trims and grinds stumps across Lawrence, KS, and out to Eudora, Baldwin City, Tonganoxie and the towns of the neighboring counties.
Lawrence's tree licence and right-of-way rules end at the city limits. The 811 locate rule is statewide.
The EF-4 tornado of May 28, 2019 began near Clinton Lake in southwest Douglas County and crossed southeast Lawrence into Leavenworth County, 31.8 miles in all.
If you own the lot, there's no city permit required to remove a tree. But if it's a building site, at least 20% of the mature trees must stay by law.
If the tree is on the strip by the curb, it's city land. If you own the house beside it, you may still prune or remove the tree, but you have to follow the city tree rules.
City yard waste pickup takes branches the same day as trash, but not limbs one inch thick or more. Keep them as firewood or give them to our trucks for an extra line on the quote.
Check if the crown is thinning and new sprouts grow along the trunk. If you see D-shaped holes in the bark, you likely have emerald ash borer. Don't bring firewood from other counties; it often carries the beetle.
We talk treatment through, but we don't inject. We would need a city license plus a Kansas pesticide business license for injections. Injection costs $30 to $60 a tree every two years, but removal $750 to $2,400.
In any case, you should call 811 first and notify them two full working days in advance. But generally, when you want to remove a small stump, you can do it yourself with a rented grinder.
One should get two or three quotes and ask each one which limbs stay, and if stump grinding is included in the price. If not, a cheaper one is usually without the stump, so they do less work.
Insurers usually pay only when a falling tree damages a house or another covered building. Then you would usually receive $500 to $1,000 per tree, but removing a dead one before it falls is usually not covered.
Lean, dead wood, the landing area and how a truck reaches the yard decide the bulk of the cost. We look at those on site, then put the price in writing, part by part.
Ring (785) 538-3193 to talk it over now, or write the tree up here for a call back.