Tree service in Redmond, Washington

Tree removal permits in Redmond

Redmond measures trees at 4.5 feet above grade, and anything 6 inches or more in diameter there is a significant tree under RZC 21.72. The code lets a developed single-family lot drop a set number of significant trees a year without a permit: 2 on lots up to 10,000 square feet, 4 up to 20,000, 6 up to 30,000 and 8 above that. Go past your count and you need a permit from Planning and Community Development first; landmark trees, over 30 inches DBH, are a separate category to ask about before anyone cuts.

Because the answer is sometimes rather than always, the first step is to measure and count. Dead or hazardous trees can come out outside the yearly limits, and the city’s Hazard Declaration is free, while the application fee for other single-family removals and exception requests (in force since February 1, 2024) sits in the 2026 Development Review Fee Schedule. The Planner On Call at 425-556-2494 can confirm your lot’s allowance. Street trees were not verified for this page, so ask the same office before touching one, and see the Washington permit guide for how other cities compare.

Every city compared: tree removal permits in Washington.

Source: Planning & Community Development (Planner On Call 425-556-2494), RZC 21.72 (21.72.020/.030). Checked 2026-10-02.

Storm records for King County (covers Redmond)

On November 19, 2024, a fast-deepening low off the Washington coast threw unusually strong east winds across the Puget Sound lowlands. NOAA logged 7 high-wind reports from that one episode in the Bellevue, East Puget Sound lowlands and Seattle zones, and its narrative ties the day to widespread tree damage, prolonged outages and two deaths from falling trees. That is the largest single episode in the King County record since 2016.

Wind is the exception, though, not the rule. Of the 133 reports NOAA logged for King County, heavy snow accounts for 68 and ice storms for 11, which is why FEMA’s National Risk Index (December 2025) rates the county Relatively High for both ice storm and winter weather while scoring strong wind a Very Low 4.5. Expect the calls to cluster in February, December and January, when 84 percent of reports land.

NWS forecast zones covering the county: Cascades of Snohomish and Northern King Counties; Cascades of Southern King County; City of Seattle; Eastside; Foothills and Valleys of Central King County; Foothills and Valleys of Pierce and Southern King Counties.

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 Redmond

Puget Sound Energy serves Redmond. Its crews trim near overhead primary lines in the right-of-way, but PSE states that it does not trim service lines, the span from the pole to your house. For that span, PSE performs a safety disconnection so you or a private arborist can do the work. PSE publishes no clearance standard and cites 10 feet only as an electrocution-risk distance.

Report an outage to PSE at 1-888-225-5773, and call 911 for a line on the ground. If your bill comes from another utility, use the number printed on it and check the utility directory for its trimming rules.

Source: utility vegetation-management pages linked above; WAC 296-24-960 (WA L&I). Checked 2026-10-02.

Pests and quarantines

Spongy moth (formerly gypsy moth)

Spongy moth, the insect formerly called gypsy moth, has been confirmed in King County, but there is no quarantine here. The homeowner’s job is mostly vigilance: report a sighting through the WA Invasives app, look over firewood, outdoor furniture and RVs before they travel in from an infested state, and say yes if the state asks to hang a trap on your property.

• Spongy moth (formerly gypsy moth): Report sightings (OR Invasive Species Hotline / WA Invasives app); inspect wood, outdoor furniture, RVs before moving from infested states; host a trap if asked

Source: Spongy moth (formerly gypsy moth). Checked 2026-10-02.

Growing conditions in Redmond

USDA puts Redmond in hardiness zone 8b. For replanting after a removal, that zone covers the native large trees that already dominate the yards here, Douglas fir, western redcedar and bigleaf maple, as well as most of the ornamentals sold locally. The limiting factor is less cold than wet snow: with 68 heavy-snow and 11 ice-storm reports in the county record, choose trees with a strong single leader, avoid brittle fast growers near the house, and plant well back from PSE’s overhead lines.

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 Redmond

BLS puts the mean wage for tree trimmers and pruners in the Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue area at $33.85 an hour (May 2025), with a median of $32.75 and about 310 people in the occupation across the metro. Read it as a labor index, not a price: a removal bill also carries equipment, insurance, disposal and travel, which is why the modeled ranges on the service pages are built from crew-hours rather than wages alone.

Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA: $33.85 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 $210 (method).

843 landscaping-services establishments were counted in King 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

Four ZIP codes carry most of Redmond’s land: 98052, 98053, 98033 and 98007. Kirkland is 4 miles away, Bellevue 6, Sammamish 7, Bothell and Kenmore 8 and Issaquah 9, and each sets its own permit rule, so a tree near a city line gets the rule of the city it stands in, not the neighbor’s. Countywide storm, hazard and utility data lives on the King County page.

ZIP codes with the most land inside Redmond: 98052980539803398007

• Kirkland4 miles
• Bellevue6 miles
• Sammamish7 miles
• Bothell8 miles
• Kenmore8 miles
• Issaquah9 miles

County page: King County.

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

Tree services in Redmond

The service pages below carry Redmond’s rule and the Washington modeled ranges for each job. Removal is where the significant-tree count and the landmark threshold bite; trimming near the house wire runs into PSE’s no-trim policy on service lines; stump grinding needs an 811 locate before the machine arrives; and emergency work after an east-wind night starts with the utility, not the saw.

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

What to do next

Start by measuring the trunk at 4.5 feet and counting what has already come off the lot this year; inside the allowance, you can hire a crew without a permit. If the tree is dead or hazardous, file the free Hazard Declaration instead. Then have a risk assessment done on anything that moved in the November 2024 wind, and check the company’s registration through the Washington license lookup before signing.