Tree Protection in Texas (2026)

A tree of 24 caliper inches or greater is a Heritage Tree. UDC 5.1.2.A applies tree preservation to new development and…

Denton's Development Code creates a Landmark Tree designation for historically or civically significant trees and…

San Antonio classifies a tree as a heritage tree once it reaches 24 inches in trunk diameter, or just 12 inches for six…

A heritage tree in Cedar Park, a hardwood with a 26-inch-or-larger trunk (DBH), or one specially designated by City…

Celina designates any tree with a trunk diameter of six inches or greater, or one deemed noteworthy for species, age…

Conroe defines a heritage tree as a healthy tree of 28-inch diameter or more, or a Texas Big Tree Registry-qualifying…

Converse designates large, mature hardwoods, softwoods, and understory trees as protected 'specimen' or 'special' trees…

Dallas Development Code Sec. 51A-10.133 lets an owner ask city council to designate a tree as historic; once approved…

Leander's Zoning Ordinance protects any tree of 26 caliper inches or more from the City's preferred plant list as a…

Georgetown requires a right-of-way permit before anyone trims a protected or heritage tree standing in a public…

Harlingen designates any protected tree with a trunk 60 inches or more in circumference as a "historic tree,"…

Houston City Council may designate a tree as historically or arboriculturally significant by motion, but only if the…

Inside Irving's Heritage Crossing District, any Post Oak, Blackjack Oak, or tree of 24-inch caliper or larger counts as…

New Braunfels requires a city permit before removing any heritage or protected tree, with limited exceptions for…

Pearland's tree code defines a heritage tree as a significant tree (36-inch circumference or more) standing in the Old…

Richardson's tree code sets a higher protection tier for its biggest trees: any tree with a caliper of 24 inches DBH or…

Rowlett has no separate heritage-tree list: instead, Sec. 98-52 designates any tree with an 8-inch trunk diameter…

Sugar Land's Development Code labels any hardwood tree with an 8-inch or greater caliper, measured 4½ feet up, a…

Temple has no citywide heritage-tree ordinance, but its UDC requires protecting trees over 8 inches DBH near the…

Texarkana's landscaping code lets developers earn point credit toward the mandatory 60-point landscaping plan by…

Tyler has no separate heritage-tree registry. Its development code instead protects trees 6 inches DBH and larger in…

San Angelo has no heritage or landmark tree program and sets no diameter-based protection for private trees. The city's…

Denton's tree code singles out Post Oak by species, granting it Heritage-tree protection at just 6 inches dbh while…

Citywide, Irving bars anyone from damaging or removing a protected tree, defined as any species six inches or larger in…

Carrollton protects any tree on its Approved Plant List that has grown to a four-inch trunk diameter, sorted into…

Dallas Development Code Sec. 51A-10.101(48) protects any tree species with an eight-inch or greater trunk diameter that…

Fort Worth requires a permit from the urban forestry administrator before removing a Table B protected tree once it…

Garland's Development Code protects any tree of any species with at least a 6-inch diameter unless it falls on the…

Grand Prairie's tree code protects any species 8 caliper inches or larger except a named list of Unprotected Trees such…

When work in a Harris County Flood Control District right-of-way removes a 'desirable' tree, the ROW user must replace…

Houston, which has no zoning, protects trees within streets and parkways under Chapter 33, Article VI. Removing a…

New Braunfels protects trees by species and size, not automatically. A tree only counts as "protected" once it reaches…

Pearland's Unified Development Code sorts regulated trees into four classes by trunk diameter: Protected Trees drawn…

San Antonio protects any tree of six inches or greater trunk diameter as a 'significant tree,' but five hardy natives…

Taylor names eight groups of trees, Pecan, American Elm, Cedar Elm, Texas Ash, Southern Magnolia, Cottonwood, all Oaks…

Cedar Park doesn't protect trees by species, its rules turn on trunk size, but it singles out oaks: diseased or…

Austin City Code Sec. 6-3-21 bars plants taller than two feet within a ten-foot setback and 40 feet of curb at any…

Baytown's Unified Land Development Code requires a landscaped streetscape bufferyard along every street frontage…

Cedar Park's Town Center zoning district requires street trees in planting strips along every street, sized at a…

Corpus Christi requires street trees in the Streetscape Zone along Arterial and Collector streets wherever sidewalks…

Dallas Development Code Sec. 51A-10.125 lets homeowners and shared-access developments count trees planted in the…

Denton requires street trees in the right-of-way for new development, spaced no more than 50 feet apart, with the…

El Paso spells out exactly how street trees must be planted in the parkway: spacing no more than thirty feet apart, a…

New home builders in Farmersville must plant two canopy trees per lot before getting a certificate of occupancy, with…

In Fort Worth, trees growing in the parkway between the sidewalk and curb are city property under Chapter 33, and it is…

Frisco requires canopy shade trees along the street frontage of new development under Zoning Ordinance § 4.02.05, with…

Garland's Downtown District requires street trees as the primary streetscape landscaping under GDC § 7.17. Approved…

Grand Prairie's city tree board maintains an official list of small, medium and large tree species approved for…

New Harris County subdivisions must plant one or two caliper-inch trees per single-family lot, and builders may install…

New and expanded commercial or multifamily buildings in Houston must plant street trees in the parkway strip along…

Irving requires a landscaped interior parkway along the street frontage of every nonresidential development, averaging…

New subdivisions in Laredo must plant street trees along every public street under LDC Section 24-83.1, using a formula…

Lubbock's parks and recreation director controls what gets planted as a street tree along city thoroughfares. Section…

New Braunfels sets exact clearances for trees planted in street rights-of-way under Code of Ordinances § 118-55. Trees…

Pearland's Unified Development Code sets fixed placement distances for trees planted in medians, easements and street…

Plano requires the parks director's written sign-off before anyone plants or removes a tree, shrub, or plant in a…

San Antonio requires street trees along the public right-of-way whenever a development adds five or more parking spaces…

Property owners next to a Taylor street may plant and maintain trees in the parkway strip between the curb and sidewalk…

Waco doesn't leave street-tree choice up to chance: Section 25-50 names the exact species approved for the parkway…

Removing a specimen tree of 12 inches or larger in caliper from a Harris County road or flood-control right-of-way…

Every new single-family lot platted in unincorporated Harris County must carry front-yard trees sized to the lot: one…