Tree service in Orinda
Tree removal, pruning, stump grinding and our other services in Orinda, about 10 miles from our yard in Martinez.
Emergency work 24 hours a day, 7 days a weekCall (925) 228-1010
Orinda has more land mapped Very High fire hazard than any other town on these pages. Its tree rules protect native oaks from 12 inches across on a developed lot, and most trees from 6 inches on a vacant, undeveloped or downtown lot. A dead tree needs no permit, because only live trees are protected.
Our work in Orinda
Tree permits in Orinda
- Who reviews a permit
- Planning Department
- What the code protects
- Developed parcels: valley, coast live, black, white, canyon, blue or interior live oak with a trunk 12 inches or more in diameter at 4.5 feet above natural grade.
- Vacant, undeveloped or downtown-district parcels: any tree not on the City's Disallowed Plant List with a trunk 6 inches or more in diameter.
- Native riparian trees, within 30 feet of a creek bank or further out where they depend on creek moisture: a single trunk 4 inches or more in diameter, or a multi-trunk tree of the same combined cross-section.
- What has to be planted back
- With a development: one native tree at least three-quarters of an inch across for every six inches of trunk removed, counting the trees together, and up to a third of that may be native shrubs (§ 17.21.5.F). Without a development the permit may ask for the same, or for nothing.
Checked on , against Orinda Municipal Code Chapter 17.21; heritage trees in Chapter 17.24. Rules change, so confirm with the City before work starts.
Defensible space in Orinda
Orinda is served by the Moraga-Orinda Fire District (opens in a new tab), which requires annual grasses and weeds cut to 3 inches or less, by June 1 every year.
Its Ordinance 23-03 also sets rules for the first five feet around a house or an attached deck: no bark, mulch or other combustible ground cover within two feet, and no Monterey pine or eucalyptus within five.
On CAL FIRE's 2025 Fire Hazard Severity Zone maps, 5,241 acres of Orinda are rated Very High and 803 acres High.
Tree work in Orinda: common questions
- Do I need a permit to remove a tree in Orinda?
- In Orinda, a Planning Department permit is needed to remove or destroy a protected tree: a native oak 12 inches or more in diameter on a developed parcel, any tree 6 inches or more on a vacant, undeveloped or downtown parcel, a native riparian tree 4 inches or more near a creek, or a replacement tree of any size, with diameters measured 4.5 feet above natural grade. City Council-designated heritage trees need a permit to remove, destroy or prune. The full rules, with the code and the City's own page, are on our tree permits page.
- What do I have to plant back after removing a tree in Orinda?
- With a development: one native tree at least three-quarters of an inch across for every six inches of trunk removed, counting the trees together, and up to a third of that may be native shrubs (§ 17.21.5.F). Without a development the permit may ask for the same, or for nothing. $125 for each replacement tree the site cannot take (§ 17.21.5.F.2), spent on city landscape projects. Taking one without a permit is dearer: two 24-inch box trees for every six inches of trunk, or restitution at $1,179 a tree in the fee schedule effective July 2026.
- Who enforces defensible space in Orinda?
- The Moraga-Orinda Fire District, which requires annual grasses and weeds cut to 3 inches or less, by June 1 every year. Its Ordinance 23-03 also sets rules for the first five feet around a house or an attached deck: no bark, mulch or other combustible ground cover within two feet, and no Monterey pine or eucalyptus within five.
- Do you take emergency calls in Orinda?
- Yes. We take emergency calls 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, at (925) 228-1010.
Talk to someone about a tree in Orinda
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