Established 2019
Allen went from under two thousand people in 1970 to more than a hundred thousand today, and the trees came in with each wave. What your yard needs depends on which one built it.
Allen was established in 1870 along the Houston and Texas Central Railway and stayed small for a century. Rapid growth started in the late 1960s. There were 1,940 people here in 1970, 8,314 by 1980, 43,554 by 2000, and an estimated 113,447 in 2025. A city that grows in waves gets its trees in waves, so the age of the canopy tends to track the age of the subdivision. Two streets a mile apart can need completely different work.
Source: Handbook of Texas, Texas State Historical Association, on Allen being established in 1870, named for Ebenezer Allen in 1872, and on rapid growth beginning in the late 1960s with the decade population figures. US Census Bureau QuickFacts, July 1, 2025 population estimate of 113,447 and the 2020 decennial count of 104,627.
Emerald ash borer was confirmed in Collin County in 2024, from specimens collected that May. If you have an ash in Allen, that is not a wait and see situation. Texas A&M Forest Service says all ash species are susceptible, healthy ones included. A dead ash goes brittle fast, which usually makes the removal harder and more expensive the longer it stands.
Source:
Texas A&M Forest Service, June 2, 2024, on the Collin County confirmation from specimens collected in May 2024 and on all ash species being susceptible. Texas A&M Forest Service emerald ash borer situation page, June 2026, still listing Collin among confirmed Texas counties.
Emerald ash borer attacks ash, and only ash. Texas has five native ash species and it takes all of them. Your oaks and cedar elms are not the target. The early signs are thinning at the very top of the canopy, sprouts pushing out of the trunk, and small D shaped exit holes in the bark. By the time most homeowners notice, the tree is well along. There are two honest options and we will tell you which one your tree is in: treat it on a schedule while it still holds most of its canopy, or plan the removal before it goes brittle. A dead ash is one of the more dangerous trees to take down, and it gets harder and more expensive every season it stands.
Source: Texas A&M Forest Service, June 10, 2024, on emerald ash borer preying exclusively on ash, on Texas having five native ash species, and on D shaped exit holes as a sign of activity.
A neighborhood built in the seventies has trees in their fifties. One built in the late nineties has trees hitting the age where codominant stems and included bark start to matter. Trees that were never structurally pruned when they were young carry those defects into full size, and that is usually where cabling and bracing earns its money, because a lot of these trees are worth keeping rather than replacing and starting the clock over. The other half of it is spacing. Trees put in fifteen feet off a foundation are full sized now, and crowding a structure is a clearance problem before it is a removal problem.
This is the question we get most, and the answer surprises people. Allen's ordinance says it applies to all trees in the city except trees on single family and duplex lots that have received a final inspection. If your house is finished and inspected, your own yard is generally outside it. Where the ordinance does apply, a regulated tree needs a removal permit first, tree surveys start at six caliper inches, mitigation runs on a credit system, replacement trees start at three caliper inches, and planting can sometimes be deferred through escrow or paid in lieu. Dead and hazardous trees still go through a determination, with an emergency provision for removing only what is needed to end the immediate danger. If you are building, developing or doing a demolition, that is the order of operations, and we are used to working inside it.
Source: City of Allen Land Development Code, Section 7.06.4, on the single family and duplex final inspection exception, the tree removal permit requirement, the dead, diseased and hazardous tree determination and emergency provision, the mitigation credit system, escrow and payment in lieu, and the three caliper inch minimum replacement size, last amended by Ordinance 3125-11-12 on November 27, 2012. City of Allen Land Development Code, Section 6.06.14, on tree surveys identifying trees six caliper inches and larger.
We have not worked Allen much, and we would rather say that than pretend otherwise. What we can tell you is that we work McKinney on one side of you and Plano on the other, and 75 runs us through Allen most weeks anyway. Same crew, same standard, no travel charge. We look at the root flare and the whole tree before we recommend anything, and we will tell you when a tree does not need work yet.
Tree removals done right, the Arborwise™ Way! Proper PPE and a crew that has carefully plotted exactly where this tree was supposed to hit the ground, and it did!
Learn moreStructural pruning, canopy thinning, and clearance work done with proper collar cuts, never topping.
Learn moreStructural support for split leaders and heavy limbs, so that tree usually sticks around for years to come.
Learn moreThe right tree in the right spot, planted at the right depth. Planting too deep is one of the leading reasons new trees die. Get that right and it usually takes off from there.
Source: Texas A&M Forest Service, Planting, on planting too deep as a leading cause of death in newly planted trees.
Also available: stump grinding, plus storm damage response for genuine emergencies.
Reviews from clients across our North Texas service area.
“Knowledgeable, skilled, kind and respectful.”
Was worried about cost at first, but said the care taken with her trees, yard and cleanup made it worth it.
“Amazing service, 5/5 no notes.”
The problem got handled and the crew was easy to be around.
“They always do a fantastic job.”
Called out Greg and the team for a smooth, professional process and competitive pricing.
Six standards, on every job in Allen, whether it is one limb or a full removal.
Safety is not optional on an Arborwise™ job. Required PPE, proper rigging, controlled cuts, and a crew that speaks up the moment something looks unsafe. No job is worth someone getting hurt.
Doing it right sometimes takes longer. We do not rush an unsafe cut, skip PPE, or leave a bad cleanup because it is faster. Good tree work is deliberate.
Every yard belongs to someone who trusted us to be there. We protect your driveway, your landscaping, and your trees with the right cuts and the right decisions, not just the fastest ones.
We keep our equipment maintained, our loads secure, and we pick up the small sticks most crews leave behind. We leave every property better than we found it.
Arborwise™ is a crew, not a collection of individuals. We communicate, watch for hazards, and speak up for one another on every single job.
The Arborwise™ Way is not always the fastest way. It is the right way, even when it takes longer, and even when nobody is watching.
Allen sits between McKinney and Plano, two towns we work constantly, and we are up and down 75 most weeks. Getting there is not the hard part. We will tell you honestly if we are backed up.
No. Estimates are free everywhere we work, and we do not add a travel charge for our service area.
Usually not. Allen's tree preservation ordinance says it applies to all trees in the city except trees on single family and duplex lots that have received a final inspection. So if your home is finished and inspected, taking a tree out of your own yard is generally not covered by it. Property still under the ordinance is a different story, and there a regulated tree needs a removal permit first. We will tell you when we think one is in play, and we will point you to the City of Allen rather than guess on your behalf.
Get it looked at this season rather than next. Emerald ash borer is confirmed in Collin County and it does not spare untreated ash. Look at the very top of the canopy first, because that is where thinning shows up before anything else, then check the trunk for sprouts and for small D shaped exit holes. If the tree still holds most of its canopy, treatment on a schedule is usually worth it. If it is already well along, the honest answer is to plan the removal while the wood is still sound.
Being dead or hazardous is not an automatic pass in Allen. On property the ordinance covers, the city still issues a permit for a protected tree that is dying, seriously diseased or infested, in danger of falling, interfering with utilities or creating an unsafe condition, and that comes after their determination. The ordinance does allow emergency work, where an owner may remove only what is necessary to end the immediate danger and then apply right afterward. That is the order of operations, and we are used to working inside it.
Yes. We do that work across Collin County, McKinney and Plano included, which puts us on both sides of Allen. That covers scheduled maintenance, hazard assessment and planned replacement on a budget cycle, and we are used to coordinating with boards and property managers.
No. Since 2019 we have never charged a customer more than we quoted. If a job takes longer than we figured, that is our miss, not your bill. The only time your number changes is when you say so. If you decide you want more done while we are there, that is a separate line, and we agree on it before anyone touches it. And if we find something the estimate could not have accounted for, you hear about it that day, before any work continues.
Call, text, or send us a couple photos of the tree. We answer our own phone and estimates are always free.