Tree service in Sherwood, Oregon

Tree removal permits in Sherwood

Sherwood’s own FAQ answers the question directly: a tree on an individual single-family lot needs no permit to come down, unless it is a street tree. What the city asks for instead is an email to the Planning Department 72 hours ahead listing the species, DBH, location, reason and a photo; planning@sherwoodoregon.gov or 503-925-2308 reaches them. The authority sits in the Zoning and Community Development Code at 16.142, with penalties in 16.02.040, and development sites follow the canopy standards in that chapter rather than the homeowner rule.

Street trees are tiered by size. Under 5 in DBH, no permit as long as you replace the tree within six months; 5 to 10 in, a permit plus a sign posted for 10 days; over 10 in, a permit, the sign, and an arborist report. The street tree permit costs $35 for the first tree and $15 for each additional one, plus a 5 percent technology fee, and the code sets a penalty of up to $500 per day per tree for removing a public tree without one. Since the private-tree rule is a no, what still applies is the county: outside city limits Washington County rules govern, and the Oregon permit guide shows how neighboring cities differ.

Every city compared: tree removal permits in Oregon.

Source: Planning Department (503-925-2308, planning@sherwoodoregon.gov), Sherwood Zoning and Community Development Code 16.142 (city page cites 16.140.060; 2026 application cites 16.142.060); penalties 16.02.040. Checked 2026-10-02.

Storm records for Washington County (covers Sherwood)

Sherwood’s most useful storm fact is a date: 2025-02-13, when snow, sleet and freezing rain reached all four of Washington County’s forecast zones and NOAA filed four reports in a day, the county’s largest recent cluster. The county is otherwise mid-table. NOAA logged 104 reports between 2016 and 2026, rank 23 of 36 in Oregon, and the last three years (25) ran close to the three before (29).

Wind leads the type list, with 30 high wind and 21 strong wind reports against 24 heavy snow and 12 winter storm, and 69 percent of everything falls in November through February, peaking in January. FEMA’s National Risk Index rates the county Relatively High for ice storms and Relatively Moderate for wind and winter weather. In practice a Sherwood removal is usually a planned job from March to October, and an ice-loaded limb job in the weeks after an event like February 2025.

NWS forecast zones covering the county: North Oregon Coast Range; North Oregon Coast Range Lowlands; Tualatin Valley; West Hills and Chehalem Mountains.

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, 2016 to June 2026 · NWS zone-county correlation files (2019 to 2026 versions). Checked 2026-10-02. NOAA Storm Events 2016-2026; zone-based events assigned to every county the NWS zone covers using the zone-county correlation file in force on the event date (2019-04-02 file used for 2016-2018).

Power lines and utilities in Sherwood

Portland General Electric is the utility for Sherwood. PGE trims around its transmission, primary and secondary distribution lines, but it trims the service wire to the house only if branches are straining or rubbing it, and it asks customers not to plant under or around wires. Its stated clearance is at least 10 feet around primary lines, with the exact distance varying by voltage under the Oregon PUC rule, OAR 860-024-0016. Outages go to 503-464-7777 or 800-544-1795, both answered 24 hours; for more, see the utilities page.

Source: utility vegetation-management pages linked above; OAR 437-002-0306 (OR-OSHA). Checked 2026-10-02.

Pests and quarantines

Emerald ash borer (EAB) · quarantineMediterranean oak borer (MOB)

Washington County is inside Oregon’s emerald ash borer quarantine, and the borer is confirmed here, so an ash tree removed in Sherwood cannot leave the quarantine as raw wood. It moves only as chips of 1 in or less or as kiln-dried, debarked lumber, or after heat treatment to 160 F at the core for 60 minutes with ODA permission, and loads should be covered during the April 1 to September 30 flight period. Mediterranean oak borer is also confirmed in the county, without a quarantine: do not move cut oak firewood more than 10 miles, and chip or burn an infested tree, stump included, on site. Report either one through the Oregon Invasive Species Online Hotline; the EAB page has the full rules.

• Emerald ash borer (EAB): OR (ODF/ODA): keep raw ash wood inside the quarantine; move only as <=1-in chips or kiln-dried debarked lumber, or heat 160F core for 60 min with ODA permission; cover loads during flight period Apr 1
• Mediterranean oak borer (MOB): Don't move cut oak firewood >10 miles from source; cut then burn or chip (<=1 in) infested trees including the stump on site; report with photos/location to Oregon Invasives Hotline

Source: Emerald ash borer (EAB) · Mediterranean oak borer (MOB). Checked 2026-10-02.

Growing conditions in Sherwood

Sherwood is in USDA zone 8b on the 2023 map. With ash off the replanting list because of the borer, the zone still supports the Douglas fir, bigleaf maple and Oregon white oak that fill Tualatin Valley yards, though oak carries the Mediterranean oak borer caution above. Keep any replacement 10 ft from distribution lines and, if it is a street tree, plant it within the six-month replacement window the city requires.

USDA hardiness zone 8b (2023 map, by ZIP code).

Source: USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map 2023 (OSU PRISM ZIP data). Checked 2026-10-02.

Labor index for Sherwood

BLS puts the mean wage for tree trimmers and pruners in the Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro metro, which includes Sherwood, at $35.04 an hour, with a median of $36.33 and about 1,160 workers. It is a wage, not a price: the modeled range on this site multiplies crew-hours by a crew cost built on it. A Sherwood removal carries no permit fee on a private lot, but a street tree over 10 in adds an arborist report to the bill.

Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA: $35.04 per hour mean wage for tree trimmers and pruners (BLS, May 2025). This is a labor index, not a price; the modeled crew-hour cost used on this site is $225 (method).

276 landscaping-services establishments were counted in Washington County in 2023 (Census County Business Patterns, NAICS 561730).

Source: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025, SOC 37-3013 · U.S. Census Bureau, County Business Patterns 2023, NAICS 561730. Checked 2026-10-02.

ZIP codes and nearby cities

Sherwood’s ZIP code is 97140, and the city had an estimated 20,535 residents in 2025, almost level with 20,450 in 2020. Tualatin is 3 miles away, Wilsonville and Tigard 5, Newberg 7, and Lake Oswego and Beaverton 8, so the southwest metro’s tree companies treat Sherwood as home ground. Past the city line, Washington County rules apply.

ZIP codes with the most land inside Sherwood: 97140

• Tualatin3 miles
• Wilsonville5 miles
• Tigard5 miles
• Newberg7 miles
• Lake Oswego8 miles
• Beaverton8 miles

County page: Washington County.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2020 ZCTA to place and county relationship files. Checked 2026-10-02.

Tree services in Sherwood

The pages below cover the four jobs Sherwood homeowners ask about: removal with the 72-hour notice, trimming to PGE’s clearances and the street-tree pruning rules, stump grinding with the ash quarantine in mind, and emergency work after an ice event. Each uses this page’s county storm record and the Portland-area labor index.

• Tree removal (statewide guide)
• Tree trimming in Sherwood
• Stump grinding in Sherwood
• Emergency tree service (statewide guide)
• Arborists and tree health
• Check a license in Oregon

What to do next

Decide whether the tree is private or public first. On your own lot, send Planning the 72-hour email with species, DBH, location, reason and a photo and you are done with the city; in the planting strip, measure the trunk and follow the tier, since over 10 in means a permit, a sign and an arborist report. If the tree is an ash, line up a company that can chip it on site to 1 in or smaller.

Before hiring, check the company in the Oregon license lookup. Oregon DEQ sets the rules if you plan to burn debris, explained in the burning guide, and the insurance guide covers a tree that ice has already brought down.