Tree Service in Clarkston, MI
Written by Robert Burgund, ISA Certified Arborist MI-4857A · Updated September 2026
- 5.0 Stars · 16 Google reviews
- ISA Certified Arborist MI-4857A
- Oakland County Since 2013
- Licensed & Insured
What tree work looks like in Clarkston
Clarkston and Independence Township still have real forest in them. Not landscaping, woodland. Around Deer Lake and out toward Independence Oaks County Park there are oaks and hickories that have been standing a very long time.
Trees that size fail differently. They rarely come down at the base. What goes is a dead leader over the driveway, or a fork sixty feet up that has been quietly decaying for a decade. You cannot see either from the lawn, which is why almost every job here starts with somebody climbing the tree rather than looking at it.
The City of Clarkston and the surrounding Independence Township both look at tree removal mainly through their woodland, wetland and land-development rules rather than a routine residential permit. Because they’re separate governments, we confirm with whichever one covers your parcel before scheduling anything that isn’t an emergency. Because so much of the area is wooded, the question that matters most is whether your parcel is mapped as regulated woodland, and ordinances get amended, so we always check fresh rather than rely on what applied last year.
Why we push back on removing trees here
In most of the county a mature tree is worth keeping. In Clarkston it is worth considerably more than that.
An oak that has been growing since before the subdivision existed cannot be replaced in your lifetime, and it is doing real work: shading the house, holding a slope, and setting what the whole property looks like. When one of these develops a problem it is usually structural and usually high up, and a structural problem in a good tree is often fixable.
Reducing a heavy limb or cabling a weak fork buys decades. So we assess first and quote removal second, and a fair number of the trees we are called out to look at do not need to come down at all.
What we do in Clarkston
We assess the big trees by climbing them, because that is the only way to inspect them properly. Most of them can stay, so a lot of the work is crown cleaning and reduction. When a tree really does have to come out we are set up for big timber, with a crane if climbing is not safe.
We grind stumps so the ground can be seeded over, and storm calls get answered around the clock, all year. With this much oak, everything non-urgent gets scheduled outside the mid-April to mid-July oak wilt window.
Pruning & tree trimming → Tree removal → Stump grinding → Oak wilt guide →
Oak country
White and red oak, sugar maple, hickory, and pine on the sandier ground. With this much oak, pruning season is non-negotiable. A cut made in early summer draws the beetles that carry oak wilt, and because oak roots often graft together underground, losing one tree can mean losing its neighbors too.
What removal costs in Clarkston
The usual range is $600 to $2,500, though big woodland timber goes past that. A four-foot oak behind a house is a crane job, and the price reflects the equipment rather than the hours. An assessment costs a great deal less than a removal, and it often ends with the tree staying up. See the cost guide for what moves the number.
From our Google reviews
“Rob and his crew did an amazing job. They were very professional, timely and exercised safety at every step of the process. The cleanup at the end of the job was excellent.”
Ron S., May 2026
Read all 16 reviews on Google. Tree Pros, LLC is licensed and insured, and Rob gives every Clarkston estimate in person, free. Hours: Monday to Friday 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., Saturday 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., and Sunday for emergencies.
Common questions
Do I need a permit to remove a tree in Clarkston or Independence Township?
Not usually for routine work on an established residential lot. Clarkston and Independence Township aim their tree rules at mapped woodland areas, wetlands and land development, so a homeowner taking down a dead or hazardous tree in the yard is generally not the target. The catch is that so much of the area is wooded that a surprising number of ordinary house lots sit inside, or on the edge of, a regulated woodland. If yours does, the rules change and a permit may be needed even for one tree. That is the question to answer first, and it is a phone call to the township, not a guess. We make that call before we quote, so the price already includes whatever the township requires. Emergency work on a tree that has failed or is about to is handled differently and does not wait on paperwork.
Is hiring an arborist worth it?
On a big tree, yes, and in Clarkston mostly because of where the problems hide. A climbing inspection is the only way to catch a structural defect sixty feet up before it fails onto something, because the decay at a fork or the crack in a leader cannot be seen from the ground. Often the answer is that the tree can stay, and that is a lot cheaper than taking it down. An ISA Certified Arborist has been examined on tree biology, diagnosis and safe practice, and the certification number is public, so you can check it before anyone climbs your tree. Rob’s is MI-4857A. For a small dead tree in an open yard, what you mainly need is a competent, insured crew and a clear written estimate. For the big woodland oaks and hickories around Deer Lake, the assessment is the part that saves you money.
How much does tree removal cost in Clarkston, MI?
Most Clarkston removals land between $600 and $2,500, but this is the part of the county where jobs go past that range most often. The trees are simply bigger. A four-foot-diameter oak behind a house cannot be climbed and dropped in pieces onto a small yard; it needs a crane, and the crane sets the price more than the hours do. Rural and wooded lots often have better access than a city yard, which helps, but the size of the timber usually outweighs it. Before you budget for removal, budget for an assessment. Climbing the tree and looking at the fork or the leader that worries you costs far less than taking the tree down, and on these lots it often ends with the tree staying, reduced or cabled rather than removed. The stump is a separate line on the estimate.
Written by Robert Burgund
ISA Certified Arborist · MI-4857A
Rob owns Tree Pros, LLC in Bloomfield Township and runs every job himself. He has climbed and cared for trees in Oakland County since 2013. More about Rob and how we work.
Down the road we also cover Waterford and Pontiac. The county page has the full list.
Get the tree assessed before you decide.
Rob climbs it, tells you what is actually wrong, and quotes the work either way. Plenty of Clarkston trees do not need removing.
Call or Text 248-672-8058Request a Free Estimate