Tree Service in Oakmont, Gainesville, FL

Oakmont Tree Trimming for New Homes and Old Oaks

ICI Homes spent years planning Oakmont before construction, and the community was laid out across rolling land off SW 24th Avenue with many of the existing oaks left in place. It covers about 550 acres and is planned for roughly 1,000 homes, with a 49-acre conservation area set aside for gopher tortoises. Listings show houses finished from 2017 through 2025, so most of the trees you see fall into one of two groups: big oaks that were here long before the streets, and young trees the builders planted.

Those two groups need opposite things. The preserved oaks need a light touch and protection from the stress of having houses built around them. The young trees need firm, early pruning so they grow a strong structure instead of a tangle of weak forks.

Structural Pruning for Young Oakmont Trees

A street tree planted in 2020 is the cheapest tree you'll ever prune. Fixing a bad fork now costs a few minutes with hand tools. Fixing it in 15 years can mean cabling, or losing the tree in a storm. For young oaks and magnolias in Oakmont yards, a good pruning visit usually means:

1. Picking one central leader and shortening any stem that's competing with it.
2. Removing branches that cross, rub, or grow back toward the trunk.
3. Spacing the main limbs so they don't all come out at the same height.
4. Raising the lowest limbs slowly over several years, not all at once.
5. Checking the trunk base for nursery stakes, ties or mulch piled against the bark.

This kind of tree trimming and pruning takes little time and is often the least expensive visit we make. Doing it every two to three years while the tree is small saves money later.

Oakmont Arborist Care for Preserved Oaks

The old live oaks scattered through Oakmont are the community's namesake, but they didn't ask for a house next door. Grading, trenching for utilities, new driveways and heavy irrigation can all damage roots that spread far past the canopy. The decline is slow, and it often shows up a few years after move-in as thinning leaves or dead branch tips at the top.

If a preserved oak on your lot looks thinner each summer, a tree health check is the place to start. For heavy limbs reaching over a new roof, careful end-weight reduction is usually better than removal. Our post on pruning live oaks before hurricane season covers timing.

Oakmont Tree Work Around Gopher Tortoises and the CDD

Gopher tortoises are protected in Florida, and their burrows are too. On lots near the conservation area, we look for burrow openings before anything heavy rolls across the yard and keep equipment away from them. If a burrow sits right where work has to happen, the job waits until it's handled properly.

Oakmont is also a community development district, which its developer has called the first in Gainesville. The district owns the amenity campus, and common areas are handled by the district or the HOA, so a tree in those spaces is theirs to deal with, even if it hangs over your yard. Trees on your own lot are yours, though your association may still want to review a removal.

Scheduling around Oakmont's routine

Oakmont is zoned for Lawton Chiles Elementary, Kanapaha Middle and Buchholz High, so the main roads get busy at drop-off and pickup. We aim for a mid-morning arrival on SW 24th Avenue and keep trucks out of the way of school buses. The amenity campus and pool draw a crowd on summer weekends, which is another reason we prefer weekdays for jobs near the club.

Oakmont Tree Removal and County Rules

Oakmont lies outside city limits, so Alachua County's tree code applies. On a single-family lot of up to one acre, you'll need a county permit to remove a native tree over 20 inches in diameter or a laurel or water oak over 30 inches. Preserved oaks on Oakmont lots often clear that size. If an arborist documents that a tree on your home lot is an unacceptable risk, Florida Statute 163.045 removes the local permit requirement. When a tree truly has to come out, we handle the tree removal and grind the stump the same day if you want.

Oakmont Storm Prep for Newer Lots

New communities have a weak spot in storms: there aren't many mature trees between the houses to break the wind. On rolling ground like Oakmont's, gusts can come up a slope and hit a lone preserved oak with nothing around it. Young street trees, meanwhile, are often still staked or have small root balls that haven't spread yet.

• Remove stakes and ties that have been on for more than a year, since they can girdle the trunk.
• Thin the crowns of young trees lightly so wind passes through.
• Have the biggest preserved oak near your house checked for deadwood before June.
• Keep a clear path to the backyard so a crew can get in after a storm.

If a tree does land on the house, our emergency tree removal line is open around the clock.

Oakmont Tree Service Costs

If you're replacing a tree, our guide to the best trees to plant in Gainesville after a removal lists species that fit Oakmont-size lots.

There is a cost upside to working in a newer neighborhood. Many Oakmont jobs involve younger, smaller trees and yards that haven't yet filled in with sheds, pergolas and decades of plantings. That often means compact equipment can reach the tree without much fuss, and a removal or prune lands on the lower end of its range. The big preserved oaks are the exception, since they're large and often close to the house.

Oakmont Stump Grinding and Replanting

Builders sometimes leave stumps behind when they clear for a pool or an addition, and new owners find them under the sod a year later. A stump in a newer Oakmont yard is usually easy to reach and quick to grind. If you're replacing a tree, pick a spot a few feet from the old stump so the new roots aren't fighting old wood. Stump grinding runs $95 to $450 per stump, and we rake the area smooth when we're done.

Tree Service Near Oakmont: Tioga, Haile and Jonesville

Oakmont sits between two older communities. Tioga is a short drive north on Newberry Road, and Haile Plantation is southeast toward Archer Road. West and north is Jonesville, with its acreage and pines, and east toward I-75 is the Kanapaha area. All of them are covered by our Gainesville tree service.