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Serving Lawrence and Topeka

(785) 550-0100
Broad symmetrical mature oak standing alone in an open green field

County seat: Lawrence

Tree Service in Douglas County

Our home county. The yard is in Lawrence, so Douglas County gets the fastest response and the most crew hours.

Towns covered
4
From our yard
Lawrence, KS
Storm calls
24 / 7

Douglas County tree service questions

Which towns in Douglas County do you cover?

Lawrence, Eudora, Baldwin City, and Lecompton, plus the unincorporated ground between them. Our yard is in Lawrence, so this is the county with the shortest response times and the most crew hours.

Are the tree rules the same across the county?

No, and the differences are real. Lawrence licenses tree trimmers through the City Clerk. Baldwin City licenses arborists annually and bills owners for right-of-way tree work. Eudora sets clearance at seven feet over sidewalks. Lecompton asks owners to contact the governing body before removing a tree near a public area. Outside city limits, none of these apply.

Is there still an emerald ash borer quarantine here?

No. Kansas lifted its quarantine effective March 1, 2021, after the federal domestic quarantine was withdrawn in December 2020. There is no legal restriction now on moving ash wood within or out of the county. The biological reason not to move firewood has not changed.

Do I need a permit to burn brush on my acreage?

In unincorporated Douglas County you need to check the county burn hotline for current status and notify the Emergency Communications Center before starting, with fires over about five feet across at the base triggering that requirement. Some burns require a commissioners' permit. Inside a city, ask the city.

What is the most common Douglas County call?

It splits by geography. In Lawrence it is access-constrained removals and pruning around old street trees and overhead service. Around Eudora and Lecompton it is bottomland cottonwood and sycamore, plus root plate failures after wet weather. Around Baldwin City it is mature oak, and most of those calls end as reductions rather than removals.

Do you cover all of Douglas County?

Yes. We work Lawrence, Eudora, Baldwin City, Lecompton and the ground between them. If your address is rural and not near any of those, call and we will tell you straight away whether it is in range.

What trees are we dealing with in Douglas County?

Mostly Silver maple, Pin oak, Bur oak, Hackberry, Green ash, American elm, Cottonwood, Sycamore, Black walnut, Osage orange, and eastern redcedar. Douglas County splits between old Lawrence neighborhoods with century-old street trees growing into utility lines, and river bottom ground around Eudora and Lecompton where cottonwood and sycamore get large fast. Two very different jobs, often in the same week.

How fast can you reach Douglas County in an emergency?

We run out of Lawrence and answer storm calls around the clock. After a widespread wind or ice event every crew in the region is booked within hours, so we triage by hazard: trees on structures and blocked access first. You will get a real window rather than a hopeful one.

Is the estimate free?

Yes, and you do not need to be home. We walk the property, take measurements, and send the written quote the same day.

What happens next

Three steps, and the first one takes 45 seconds

No sales visit, no pressure, and a written number before anyone touches a saw.

  1. Stand of bare dying trees with no leaf cover standing among healthy green growth 1

    Tell us about the tree

    Three questions, about 45 seconds. Or call and skip the form entirely.

  2. Worker in a white helmet and full climbing harness cutting limbs while tied in aloft 2

    We come look at it

    A certified arborist walks the property, checks access, and writes the quote on site. Free, and you do not need to be home.

  3. Groundman feeding a leafy limb into an orange towable brush chipper parked in a suburban driveway 3

    We do the work and clean up

    Crew arrives in the window we quoted. Chips, limbs, and debris leave with us unless you want them kept.

In a hurry? Call (785) 550-0100 and skip all three.

Clinton Lake changed the western half of the county

Clinton Lake was authorized under the Flood Control Act of 1962 and its dam was finished in 1975, impounding the Wakarusa River along with Rock Creek and Deer Creek. The reservoir covers roughly seven thousand acres with about eighty-five miles of shoreline, and it supplies drinking water to more than a hundred thousand people. Building it flooded the townsites of Belvoir, Bloomington, and Sigel.

For tree work, the shoreline is what matters. Lots around the lake sit on slopes with open water on one side, which produces trees with lopsided crowns loaded consistently from one direction, on ground where a truck often cannot reach the tree. Those jobs get quoted after somebody walks the lot and the access road, not from a description given over the phone.

Looking up through the dense green canopy and branching structure of a mature oak

Open burning in the unincorporated county

Douglas County allows open burning in unincorporated areas only in limited situations, and the process has two parts. First check current burn status through the county burn hotline, since conditions change with wind and drought. Then notify the county Emergency Communications Center before you light anything, either by phone or through the online form. Fires larger than about five feet across at the base trigger that notification requirement, and some burns need a permit from the Board of County Commissioners outright.

Somebody eighteen or older has to supervise the fire until it is out. Inside any city in the county, the city's rules apply instead, and they are not the same from town to town. For most residential jobs the whole question goes away if the material gets chipped, and the chips can stay on the property as mulch.

  • Check burn status with the county hotline before planning anything
  • Notify Emergency Communications before starting, phone or online
  • Fires over roughly five feet across at the base require notification
  • City limits mean city rules, which differ between Lawrence, Eudora, Baldwin City, and Lecompton
Broad symmetrical mature oak standing alone in an open green field

Ash, and the quarantine that no longer exists

Emerald ash borer was confirmed in Douglas County in late September 2015, and K-State Research and Extension now counts confirmed infestations across a long list of northeast Kansas counties. What has changed is the regulation. The federal domestic quarantine was withdrawn at the end of 2020, and Kansas lifted its own quarantine effective March 1, 2021, redirecting effort toward survey, education, and biological control.

That means there is no longer a legal restriction on moving ash wood or firewood out of the county, which is worth understanding rather than celebrating, because moving infested firewood is precisely how the beetle covered this much ground. Burn the ash where you cut it. If you are hauling firewood to a cabin or a campsite, the responsible move is still to leave it home and buy local wood at the destination.

Massive old oak with heavy spreading scaffold limbs in a hardwood stand

Douglas County at a glance

Douglas County splits between old Lawrence neighborhoods with century-old street trees growing into utility lines, and river bottom ground around Eudora and Lecompton where cottonwood and sycamore get large fast. Two very different jobs, often in the same week.

Other counties we cover

Free estimate in Douglas County

Free, no obligation. We call back within 15 minutes.

or call (785) 550-0100

Coverage

Lawrence, Topeka, and everything between

We run out of Lawrence and cover 14 towns across 5 counties. If your town is not pinned, call anyway. We are usually closer than you think.

Home base
Lawrence, KS
Storm calls
24 / 7
Call (785) 550-0100
Lawrence Topeka Eudora Baldwin City Lecompton Tonganoxie De Soto Linwood Silver Lake Tecumseh Auburn Rossville Berryton Perry Kansas River I-70 corridor

Tree down, or just need a price?

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