HD Landscape and Maintenance provides tree pruning in Hillsboro, OR for residential and commercial properties. We prune to ANSI A300 standards, handle the City’s free Tree Care Permit when work touches the right-of-way, and keep properties compliant with Hillsboro’s sidewalk and street clear zone requirements. Oregon LCB #9977.
By Donavan Hesedahl, Owner/Operator · Last updated July 2026
Tree pruning is the selective removal of specific branches to improve a tree’s structure, health, and safety. It is not the same as shearing back whatever is in the way. A pruning cut is chosen — for clearance, to remove deadwood, to correct a weak branch union, or to open the canopy — and made at the branch collar so the tree can seal the wound.
That last part is why pruning is a skilled trade rather than a saw rental. A cut placed wrong doesn’t heal; it decays inward, and on a big-leaf maple or a Douglas fir that decay column becomes a failure point ten years later.
This is where Hillsboro surprises people, and it’s worth being precise because the rules run opposite to what most Portland-metro homeowners assume.
On private property, Hillsboro does not require a permit to prune your own tree. The City regulates trees in the public right-of-way — the strip between your property line and the curb — not the tree in the middle of your back lawn.
But you are still legally responsible for maintaining both. Under Hillsboro Municipal Code Chapter 9.18 and the City’s tree and roadside vegetation requirements, property owners must keep trees healthy and trimmed to clear zone standards — and that duty covers private trees whose limbs extend over the sidewalk or street.
The clear zones are specific numbers, and they are the single most common reason we get called out in Hillsboro:
| Location | Required clearance |
|---|---|
| Above sidewalks and walkways (full width) | 8 feet |
| Above streets and alleys | 15 feet (raised from 13 feet on January 1, 2020) |
| Limbs within an intersection triangle | 10 feet |
| Vegetation height, intersection triangle, with curb | Max 30 inches above curb |
| Vegetation height, intersection triangle, no curb | Max 36 inches above road |
| Traffic sign visibility | Must not be blocked |
Corner lots carry an extra obligation: a 25-foot triangular clear area measured from the property line corner, or 35 feet measured from the intersection where the property corner isn’t obvious.
A free permit is required for right-of-way work. Property owners and contractors must obtain a free Tree Care Permit from the City before planting, removing, or replacing a street tree, before major pruning in the right-of-way, or for any tree care that impacts pedestrian or vehicle travel. “Major pruning” has a code definition under HMC 9.18.020 — removing branches two inches in diameter or greater, removing roots two inches or greater, or removing more than 20 percent of the crown.
Two practical notes from doing this work:
If you get a door hanger, the clock is 15 days. When the City flags a property for non-compliant vegetation, the owner has 15 calendar days to comply or contact the City before Code Compliance takes it over. We schedule those as priority calls.
Late in the dormant season through very early spring — before leaves form — is the best window for pruning living branches in Oregon. Flowering trees should be pruned after they bloom. Routine removal of dead or dying branches can be done at any time of year. This is the guidance the City of Hillsboro publishes, drawn from the Pacific Northwest Chapter of the International Society of Arboriculture.
In practice, our Hillsboro pruning calendar runs like this:
There’s one Hillsboro-specific timing exception worth naming: ash trees. Emerald ash borer was confirmed in the Forest Grove area — roughly ten miles west of downtown Hillsboro — and the City now runs a dedicated EAB program. Oregon ash have no defense against it. If you have ash on the property, pruning is a secondary question; the primary one is whether the tree is a treatment candidate. Signs to look for are D-shaped exit holes, basal shoots, and dieback starting at the top. Oregon’s guidance is available in the Statewide EAB Readiness and Response Plan, and sightings go to the Oregon Invasive Species Hotline at 1-866-INVADER.
We’d rather give you a real number after seeing the property than a range that turns into a change order.
Tree pruning is priced by the tree, not by the hour, and the variables are consistent: species and height, how much deadwood is in the canopy, access for equipment, proximity to structures or power lines, and whether debris hauls out through a gate or straight to the truck. A 20-foot ornamental in an open front yard and a 90-foot Douglas fir hemmed in by a fence and a roofline are not the same job.
Right-of-way work adds a permit step — the permit itself is free, but the coordination time is real.
We quote on site, in writing, per tree. If a tree needs removal rather than pruning we’ll say so instead of selling you a pruning that postpones the problem by a season.
We’re based in Aloha, about ten minutes from downtown Hillsboro, so Hillsboro is a daily route for our crews rather than an occasional trip across the metro.
In Hillsboro we work throughout Orenco · Tanasbourne · Downtown Hillsboro · Witch Hazel · South Hillsboro · Reedville · Jackson School · Rock Creek · Quatama · Five Oaks · Brookwood · Sunrise Lane.
One neighborhood-specific note: the Hillsboro Community Development Code carries additional standards for the preservation, maintenance, and replanting of mature trees in the public right-of-way within the Station Community Residential–Orenco Townsite Conservation District. If your property sits in the Orenco Townsite, assume the street trees are subject to more than the baseline rules and let us verify before any saw work.
Beyond city limits we cover Aloha, Beaverton, Cornelius, Forest Grove, Tigard, Sherwood, and North Plains, plus unincorporated Washington County. County and unincorporated properties generally carry fewer tree restrictions than incorporated cities — but “fewer restrictions” is not “no restrictions,” and stream corridor overlays still apply.
Worth knowing if you own property in more than one city: rules in this metro vary sharply from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. Hillsboro leaves private trees unregulated while enforcing right-of-way clearance strictly. Ten miles southeast, Lake Oswego regulates nearly every tree on private property under its tree code, with permits required by trunk diameter. Same tree, same species, completely different paperwork. We check the jurisdiction before we quote.
HD Landscape and Maintenance is an Oregon LCB-licensed landscape contracting business — license #9977, which under Oregon rules covers all phases of tree work. Request a free Hillsboro tree pruning quote →
In practice the terms overlap, but the useful distinction is intent. Pruning is health- and structure-driven: removing dead, diseased, or poorly attached branches so the tree grows sounder. Trimming is clearance- and appearance-driven: cutting back growth that’s in the way of a sidewalk, roofline, or sight line. Most Hillsboro jobs are both at once — a clear zone trim to the 8-foot sidewalk standard is also an opportunity to take out deadwood while the crew is in the canopy. What matters more than the label is that cuts are made properly, because a badly placed clearance cut damages the tree just as much as a badly placed health cut.
Pricing is per tree and depends on height and species, deadwood volume, equipment access, and proximity to structures or utility lines. Right-of-way work adds permit coordination, though Hillsboro’s Tree Care Permit itself is free. Current Hillsboro pruning generally runs [CONFIRM: X–X– Y] per tree, with multi-tree properties quoted as a package. We give written per-tree pricing after a site walk.
Late dormant season to very early spring, before leaves emerge, is best for pruning living branches. Prune flowering trees after they bloom instead. Dead and dying branches can be removed any time of year. Avoid heavy canopy reduction in mid-summer heat, which stresses the tree and can cause sunscald on newly exposed bark.
Young and newly planted trees benefit from structural pruning every 2 to 3 years — that’s when you can still correct form cheaply and permanently. Mature shade trees generally need attention every 3 to 5 years. Fruit trees are annual. Clear zone compliance is its own cycle: fast-growing species over a Hillsboro sidewalk often need a pass every 1 to 2 years just to stay above the 8-foot standard. And newly planted trees need about three years of establishment care — watering and mulching matter more than cutting during that window.
It depends entirely on where the trunk is. For a private tree — trunk entirely on your property — Hillsboro does not require a permit to prune or remove it. For a public street tree in the right-of-way, you need a free Tree Care Permit from the City before planting, removing, or replacing it, or before major pruning. Major pruning is defined in HMC 9.18.020 as removing branches or roots two inches in diameter or greater, or more than 20 percent of the crown. A permit is also required for any tree care that affects pedestrian or vehicle travel, and contractors must carry $2M general aggregate liability insurance listing the City as additional insured. Properties in the Orenco Townsite Conservation District and sites with tree-related conditions from a prior land use approval carry extra requirements — we verify before quoting. Permits are handled through the City of Hillsboro permitting portal.
HD Landscape and Maintenance LLC 6581 SW 192nd Ave Aloha, OR 97007
Phone: (971) 336-5520
Email: hdlandscapellc@gmail.com
Hours: Monday–Saturday, 7:00 a.m. – 7:00 p.m. · Sunday, Closed
License: Oregon LCB #9977
Serving Hillsboro and surrounding areas including Orenco, Tanasbourne, Witch Hazel, Reedville, Rock Creek, and South Hillsboro, plus Aloha, Beaverton, Cornelius, Forest Grove, and Washington County.