Redmond, WA Tree Trimming & Pruning

Most Redmond pruning calls are not “make it round.” They are limbs on a service drop, a fir crown that turned into a sail over an Education Hill roof, trail-adjacent maples shading a Sammamish River lot, or campus parking-lot trees that need clearance without looking butchered. MTS Tree and Landscape prunes to ISA and ANSI A300 practice. We do not top protected trees. Topping is not a cheaper prune — Redmond treats it as removal.

MTS Tree and Landscape is based in Sammamish. Redmond — Education Hill, Idylwood, the Sammamish River corridor, and the tech campuses — is a regular service city.

If the tree is already failing onto a structure, go to Redmond emergency tree service and call (425) 369-8733. If the right answer is taking the tree down, use Redmond tree removal.

Key Takeaways

• Private-tree pruning that is not topping, not excessive, and done to arboricultural standards is maintenance. It is not a removal permit. Protected trees still may not be topped, and excessive pruning is not allowed unless it is necessary to protect life and property (RZC 21.72 maintenance rules).
• Street trees are cut or pruned only under City of Redmond Parks supervision. Work in the public right-of-way needs a Right-of-Way Use Permit. Do not treat a planting-strip tree like a backyard maple.
• Campus and HOA trees are often on a Tree Preservation Plan. Those are protected trees. We prune them; we do not “shape” them into stubs.
• Puget Sound Energy handles clearance on its primary lines. Do not put a pole saw into wires. If a limb is on an energized line, that is utility first, then us. Details on the emergency page.
• Typical residential pruning in Redmond runs about $350 to $1,800 for a single tree, more for large firs, aerial lifts, traffic control, or a full campus cycle.
• Deadwood, clearance, crown thinning, and reduction are different scopes. We write the one you actually need.

Ready to talk through a Redmond prune? Call MTS Tree and Landscape at (425) 369-8733 or email info@nwmts.com.

What Redmond Trees Actually Need

Education Hill: mature Douglas fir and cedar with deadwood over roofs and play sets, plus service drops that grew into the lower crown.

Idylwood: bigleaf maple and cottonwood on lake wind, limbs over driveways that ice in the shade, and trees that have been lion-tailed by a previous “trim.”

Sammamish River / downtown: trail-adjacent canopy, tighter lots, and trees that sit near designated critical areas. Deadwood removal in a buffer is not the same as taking the tree down. If the tree is in an NGPA or stream buffer, we stop and check before we cut live wood.

Tech campuses (Overlake and similar): parking-lot trees, screening hedges that were allowed to become trees, sight-triangle issues at driveways, and night or weekend windows so we are not occupying stalls at 10 a.m. Lease aesthetics and city design guidelines both show up in the spec.

If your street is not on that list, we still prune Redmond trees. Call.

What We Prune — and What We Will Not Do

We do

• Deadwood and broken-limb cleanup after wind, without pretending it is an emergency removal.
• Clearance off roofs, chimneys, siding, fences, and driveways.
• Crown thinning to reduce wind sail on large conifers and maples that are staying.
• Crown reduction where the tree has outgrown the lot and removal is not required.
• Structural pruning on younger trees so they do not become the next Landmark problem.
• Campus and HOA cycles with a written spec, not a “make them all the same height” day.

We do not

• Top protected trees. Redmond’s tree-protection maintenance rules say protected trees shall not be topped. Proposed code language treats topping as removal and a remediation issue. Fruit-tree pruning to encourage fruit is a different thing.
• Flush-cut, lion’s-tail, or strip a fir down to a bottle-brush because it is cheaper. Excessive pruning is not allowed unless it is necessary to protect life and property.
• Climb into PSE primary lines. Utility vegetation on pole-to-pole wires is PSE’s program. On a service drop, PSE can disconnect so a private crew can work. We wait for that when the line is involved.
• Treat a street tree as your tree. Parks supervises those cuts.

If the tree needs to come down, we say so and send you to removal. Pruning is not a way to dodge a Landmark exception request.

Do I Need a Permit to Trim a Tree in Redmond?

Private trees, ordinary maintenance. Redmond’s published tree path is a removal permit for Significant Trees (RZC 21.72). We do not print a made-up “25% canopy” rule. Official maintenance language is: prune to arboricultural best practice, do not top protected trees, do not excessively prune unless life or property is at stake. If a “trim” would remove so much of the tree that it is effectively a removal, it is a removal permit.

Street trees / ROW. Parks supervision. Right-of-Way Use Permit for tree trimming or removal in the public way (city ROW FAQ). Traffic control is often part of the permit on arterials.

Protected, Landmark, and critical-area trees. Deadwood that is clearly dead is usually maintenance. Cutting live structural wood in an NGPA, wetland buffer, or on a tree marked on a Tree Preservation Plan is not something we assume is permit-free. We check with Planner on Call ((425) 556-2494 / planneroncall@redmond.gov) when the tree is protected or in a designated critical area.

Hazard reduction that is really a removal. If the “prune” is snagging a tree to below striking distance in a critical area, or taking the tree down, that is the removal/ exception path, not this page. In critical areas the city wants felled wood left in the buffer when a hazard tree comes down.

This page is a field guide, not the code.

How Much Does Tree Trimming Cost in Redmond?

Most single-tree residential pruning jobs fall between $350 and $1,800. Large Education Hill conifers, Idylwood maples over a roof, lift time, and campus traffic control push higher.

Redmond Tree Pruning Cost by Scope

Scope	Typical range	What we see
Small ornamental / fruit	$250 to $550	Japanese maple, cherry, apple (fruit pruning is not topping)
Medium deciduous	$450 to $1,200	Maple or alder clearance and deadwood
Large conifer (50 ft+)	$900 to $2,400	Education Hill fir/cedar: deadwood, sail reduction, roof clearance
Full-property cycle	$1,500 to $4,500+	Several trees, chipper on site, haul-off
Campus / HOA visit	Bid from spec	Parking-lot trees, screening, after-hours, ROW if needed

Costs go up when: the chipper cannot reach the backyard; we need an aerial lift on a narrow Idylwood street; the tree is over a tile roof; or we need a ROW permit and a traffic-control plan.

Get a written Redmond pruning estimate. Call (425) 369-8733.

When to Prune in Redmond

• Deciduous (maple, alder, oak): dormant season, late fall through early spring, unless we are taking storm-broken wood off now.
• Conifers (fir, cedar, hemlock): late spring through early summer after new growth hardens, or anytime for hazardous deadwood.
• Spring-flowering ornamentals: after bloom, before next year’s buds set.
• Storm-proofing a crown that is staying: late summer through early fall, before the first real wind event — not the same as emergency work.
• Campus / HOA: we schedule around occupancy, not a calendar slogan.

Do not wait for a hanging limb over a door. That is a phone call, not a “best season” question: (425) 369-8733.

How a Redmond Prune Actually Runs

• 1. Look at the tree, the target (roof, wires, sidewalk, parking stall), and whether it is private, street, protected, or in a critical area.
• 2. Say whether this is deadwood, clearance, thinning, reduction, or “this tree should come down.”
• 3. Write the estimate: climbing vs lift, chipper access, haul vs chips left as mulch.
• 4. Pull Parks / ROW permission if the tree is in the public way. File nothing that is not required; file what is.
• 5. Prune to the spec. No topping. No lions-tailing a fir to save an hour.
• 6. Clean up. If you also need the stump from an old removal, that is stump grinding, not pruning.

We are licensed, bonded, and insured. Climbers and crew leads train to ISA and L&I standards.

Wires, Campuses, and the River

Wires. Redmond electric is Puget Sound Energy. Stay out of primary lines. If a limb is on a line, 911 and PSE (1-888-225-5773), stay 35 feet back, then call us. We do not cut live electrical.

Campuses. Overlake and similar sites need staging plans, certificate-of-insurance naming, and often after-hours work. We prune to a spec a property manager can put in a file.

Sammamish River. Lots along the river and trail pick up critical-area and shoreline overlay. We will not “just take some height off” a buffer tree to open a view. View windows that are actually removals belong on the removal page, with the exception request.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much does tree trimming cost in Redmond?

Most single-tree jobs are $350 to $1,800. Large conifers, lifts, and campus cycles run higher.

Do I need a permit to prune?

Ordinary private-tree maintenance, done correctly, is not the Significant Tree removal permit. Topping, excessive live-wood cuts, street trees, ROW work, and protected / critical-area trees are different. We check.

Will you top my fir so I can keep the view?

No. Protected trees shall not be topped. If the tree has to come down, that is a removal permit, possibly a Landmark exception.

The limbs are on the power lines. Can you just cut them?

Not if they are energized. Call PSE. Then call (425) 369-8733. We work after the line is safe.

Can pruning replace removal?

Sometimes, for clearance and sail. Not when the tree is a documented hazard, a Landmark the city will not let you keep topping, or already failing. Honest answer on the site walk.

You are in Sammamish. Do you prune in Redmond?

Yes. MTS Tree and Landscape, 4580 Klahanie Dr SE #261, Sammamish, WA 98029. Redmond is a regular service city. (425) 369-8733.

Sammamish-Based. Redmond Pruning Is a Normal Week.

MTS Tree and Landscape runs King and Pierce County from Sammamish. We are not a Redmond storefront. We are the crew that already knows Education Hill firs, Idylwood maples, Sammamish River buffers, campus specs, and when a “trim” is actually a removal.

Call (425) 369-8733, email info@nwmts.com, or use the quote form.