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If you live in San Antonio—or in HOA-heavy neighborhoods like Stone Oak, Alamo Ranch, or Alamo Heights—you’ve probably heard conflicting advice about what you can (and can’t) do with your trees. One neighbor says “trim anything you want.” Another warns you’ll get fined for touching a branch. The truth: a little prep keeps you compliant, avoids delays, and saves you from “stop work” drama.

The last heat wave didn’t just feel brutal—it was brutal, especially for trees. In a heat dome, air sits over the region like a lid on a pot, trapping heat and drying everything out. Lawns crisp up. Leaves scorch at the edges. Trees shed more than usual. Homeowners panic and start watering like crazy… or not at all.

If you live around San Antonio, you’ve probably looked up at an oak and noticed something growing that doesn’t look like leaves. Sometimes it’s a fuzzy gray ball tucked along a twig. Other times it’s a bright green clump that stays leafy even when the tree looks winter-bare. Neighbors swear it’s “killing the tree.” Google says five different things.

Few things stress homeowners faster than a tree growing too close to the lines. You don’t want a surprise outage. You definitely don’t want a fire risk. And you really don’t want to find out you trimmed the wrong thing, the wrong way, at the wrong time. Here’s the simple, homeowner-friendly guide we give our San Antonio clients so you can stay safe, stay compliant, and keep your trees looking like trees—not “flat tops.”

If you’ve lived in San Antonio long enough, you’ve probably heard a neighbor whisper “oak wilt” like it’s Voldemort for trees. There’s a reason. Once oak wilt gets moving, it can spread fast—yard to yard, block to block—and take down beautiful live oaks that have shaded porches and swing sets for decades. The good news? Early detection and the right steps really do save trees.