Established 2019
Tom Bean has a tree ordinance most folks around here have never heard of. We hadn’t either, so we asked the city directly.
Tom Bean started in 1888 as a stop on the St. Louis Southwestern Railway, and it’s named for the man who made that happen.
Tom Bean was a surveyor from Bonham. He donated a fifty acre tract for the townsite and the railroad right-of-way to bring the line across his Grayson County land. Today State Highway 11 and Farm Roads 902 and 2729 run through town. We’ve been out to Tom Bean a few times to walk trees, and we’d like to be back.
Source: Handbook of Texas Online, Tom Bean, TX, Texas State Historical Association, on the 1888 founding, the St. Louis Southwestern Railway, the fifty acre donation, and the highways through town.
What sets Tom Bean apart from most towns around here is on paper at city hall.
Tom Bean’s Tree Trimming Ordinance, 2016-08, was adopted July 18, 2016. It requires a permit for utility companies, private contractors and commercial tree trimming companies working inside city limits. We asked the city how that works today, and on October 1, 2026 the city confirmed in writing that the ordinance is in effect as written, that a permit is required for all work inside city limits, and that permits are issued per project. So on a Tom Bean job the permit comes first, and the work comes after. The folks at the Tom Bean city office were very helpful getting us those answers, and quick about it.
The same ordinance requires a certified arborist to supervise the work and be on site. We have an ISA Certified Arborist on staff. It’s a higher bar than most towns set, and we think it’s a good one.
The ordinance also sets 7 feet of clearance over sidewalks and 12 feet over streets, and a dead or structurally unsound tree over a public way can be declared a nuisance. Clearance pruning is everyday work for us, with proper cuts to ANSI A300 standards, so a tree gets the clearance without getting butchered for it.
Source: City of Tom Bean, Ordinance 2016-08, Tree Trimming Ordinance, adopted July 18, 2016, on the permit requirement, the on-site certified arborist, and the sidewalk and street clearances. City of Tom Bean, written reply to Arborwise Tree Care, October 1, 2026, confirming the ordinance is in effect as written and that permits are required for all work in city limits and issued per project.
The weather out here works on trees too. In late summer 2023, Grayson County AgriLife reported significant drought stress in elms, honey locust, maples and hackberry, while oaks held up in good condition. That’s a pattern worth knowing when you’re deciding which tree in the yard to worry about first.
Source:
Texas A&M AgriLife Extension, Grayson County, What’s Up, Doc? newsletter, issue dated August 28, 2023, on drought stress in elms, honey locust, maples and hackberry, with oaks in good condition.
Underneath it all is clay. Along Mill Creek near Tom Bean, the Handbook of Texas describes rolling prairie with expansive clay soils, the kind that swell when it rains and crack in a drought. That movement works on a root plate year after year, where nobody can see it, which is one reason a tree that has started leaning is usually worth having looked at rather than guessed about. We inspect the whole tree, root flare included, before we recommend anything, and we’ll tell you when a tree doesn’t need work yet. The right work, done right.
Source: Handbook of Texas Online, Mill Creek (Grayson County), Texas State Historical Association, on rolling prairie with expansive clays and clay loams.
EMERALD ASH BORER. Texas A&M Forest Service confirmed it in Grayson County on May 13, 2024, and says infested trees die within two to five years. The county is under quarantine, which restricts moving ash wood and nursery stock out of it. If you have an ash tree in Tom Bean, that’s worth knowing now rather than later. Usually the first sign is the top of the canopy thinning out, then shoots coming out low on the trunk, and by the time you can see it from the driveway the tree has been fighting it a while. Whether it’s worth treating, and what that would take, depends on how far along it is. That’s a conversation to have standing in front of the tree, not over the phone. Walking your ash and telling you which one you have costs you nothing.
Source:
Texas A&M Forest Service, Emerald ash borer moves south, confirmed in five new Texas counties, May 13, 2024, on the Grayson County confirmation and the two to five year timeline. Texas A&M Forest Service, Emerald Ash Borer. Quarantines are set by the Texas Department of Agriculture.
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 more about tree removalStructural pruning, canopy thinning, and clearance work done with proper collar cuts, never topping.
Learn more about tree trimming and pruningStructural support for split leaders and heavy limbs, so that tree usually sticks around for years to come.
Learn more about tree cabling and bracingThe 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.
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Was worried about cost at first, but said the care taken with her trees, yard and cleanup made it worth it.
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Six standards, on every job in Tom Bean, 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.
For commercial tree work inside city limits, yes. Ordinance 2016-08 requires a permit for private contractors and commercial tree trimming companies, and the city told us in writing in October 2026 that permits are issued per project. When we are doing the work, getting that permit is part of our process, and it happens before work starts.
Yes. The city's permit fee is built into the estimate we hand you, so it is not a surprise later. And that number is the price. Since 2019 we have never charged a customer more than we quoted.
Tom Bean is in our service area, and when you call we will tell you honestly where you stand on the schedule. The city reviews the permit before work starts, so that is part of the timeline too.
The Tom Bean ordinance calls for 7 feet of clearance over sidewalks and 12 feet over streets. Clearance pruning is everyday work for us, done with proper cuts to ANSI A300 standards.
Estimates are free, wherever you are in our service area. Drive time is one of the things that goes into pricing any job, so it is already accounted for in the number we hand you rather than added on afterward. And that number is the price. Since 2019 we have never charged a customer more than we quoted.
Call, text, or send us a couple photos of the tree. We always try to answer our own phone, and estimates are always free.