We provide tree service in Chino Hills, CA, including tree trimming, removal, palm frond cleanup, stump grinding and defensible space pruning from Los Serranos and Carbon Canyon to Butterfield Ranch and Vellano. Chino Hills protects several native trees, including California sycamore, coast live oak, California black walnut and scrub oak, once they reach 4 inches in trunk diameter. Removing one can require a Tree Removal Permit from the City, so we check before any cut. Call us at (909) 479-2614 for your trees.
Chino Hills' protected native trees
Chino Hills was built into rolling hills that were once covered with native oak and walnut woodland, and the City's tree preservation rules are meant to protect what remains. California sycamore, California live oak, California black walnut and coastal scrub oak with a trunk of at least 4 inches in diameter at breast height are protected. A Tree Removal Permit is required to remove or relocate one on undeveloped property, and on developed property in the City's Fire Hazard Overlay when the tree is visible from streets, parks, trails or other rights-of-way.
The City may approve removal for reasons such as a hazard, disease, a dead or dying tree, or improved fire defensible space, and it usually requires replacement trees. Read the City's Tree Maintenance and Preservation page and call Community Development at (909) 364-2740 before planning a removal.
Trees, terrain and wildfire
Chino Hills is surrounded by open space, much of it in Chino Hills State Park, which covers thousands of acres of grassland, oak woodland and canyons. That open space is beautiful, and it is also wildfire country. Many neighborhoods are in mapped fire hazard areas and inside the City's Fire Hazard Overlay. For homes on the edge of the open space, defensible space tree work is often the most important tree job on the property.
Closer to the center of town, the neighborhoods around The Shoppes at Chino Hills and Chino Hills Parkway have younger landscape trees, palms and pines planted in slopes and parkways, often maintained by HOAs or landscape districts.
Pruning native oaks
Native oaks need a lighter touch than most trees. They are adapted to dry summers, and they suffer when they are heavily pruned, watered in summer or have soil piled over their roots. We prune oaks only as needed: deadwood, clearance and selective thinning. We avoid large cuts, keep equipment off the root zone where possible, and do not recommend summer irrigation near mature oaks. If a protected oak needs more than routine pruning, ask the City first.
Common tree jobs in Chino Hills
- Tree trimming and clearance pruning on oaks, sycamores and landscape trees.
- Defensible space pruning, ladder-fuel removal and roof clearance.
- Palm tree trimming, especially dead frond removal for fire safety.
- Removal of dead pines and non-native trees, and protected trees once the City has approved it.
- Stump grinding on slopes and in tight yards.
- Brush clearing along fences that back onto open space.
Working on slopes
Many Chino Hills lots sit on steep slopes, and trees grow at the top or bottom of manufactured banks. We look at access carefully, since equipment cannot always reach the tree, and brush may need to be carried up or down by hand. Slopes also mean erosion risk, so we leave roots in place where removing a tree from a bank and only grind what is needed.
Wind and power lines
Santa Ana winds funnel through the canyons around Chino Hills, and Carbon Canyon has a long history of wind-driven fires. Southern California Edison trims vegetation near its lines, and in high fire risk areas it keeps extra clearance. Any tree within 10 feet of a line on your property must be made safe by SCE first. Call 1-800-611-1911.
Nearby areas
We also serve neighboring Chino and Pomona, as well as Eastvale and Ontario. See all our service areas.
HOAs and landscape districts
Much of Chino Hills is organized into HOAs and landscape maintenance districts that care for slopes, parkways and common-area trees. If the tree you are worried about is on a manufactured slope behind your home, find out who owns the slope before scheduling work. Often the HOA or district is responsible for it, and a call to them gets it handled. For trees on your own lot, check whether your HOA requires approval for removal or replacement, especially for front-yard trees.
Replacement trees
When the City approves removal of a protected tree, it usually requires replacement trees. Natives such as coast live oak and California sycamore suit the hills and need little water once established. Plant them where they have room to reach full size, away from the house and lines, and keep summer irrigation away from young oak trunks.
Many Chino Hills homes also have mature pines on slopes that shed needles into gutters, so clearance pruning over roofs is a common request.
Common questions
Which trees are protected in Chino Hills?
Chino Hills protects California sycamore, California live oak, California black walnut and coastal scrub oak once their trunks reach 4 inches in diameter at breast height. A Tree Removal Permit is required on undeveloped land, and on developed land in the Fire Hazard Overlay when the tree is visible from streets, parks or trails. Call Community Development at (909) 364-2740.
Can a protected tree be removed for fire safety?
Improved fire defensible space is one of the reasons the City lists for approving a Tree Removal Permit, along with hazards, disease and dead or dying trees. Approval is not automatic, and replacement trees are usually required. Often, pruning and ladder-fuel removal meet fire-safety goals without removing the tree. Ask the City before any removal.
How should native oaks be pruned?
Lightly. Native oaks do best with only the pruning they need, such as deadwood removal, clearance and selective thinning. Avoid large cuts, summer watering near the trunk and soil or paving over the root zone. If a protected oak needs significant work, check with the City of Chino Hills first.