Tree Service in Torrance, CA
Is that street tree yours or the city's? In Torrance, the city or its approved contractors handle street trees, while our tree service in Torrance covers your own lot, from pruning to palms.
Tree care in Torrance
A city drawn on paper before it was built
Torrance was planned before it was built. Jared Sidney Torrance hired Frederick Law Olmsted Jr. to lay out the town, which was founded in 1912 and became a city in 1921. Old Torrance still follows that plan. Today the city's street tree list gives each block its own tree: tipu on parts of Post and Marcelina Avenues, manna gum along a stretch of El Prado. About 147,000 people live here, beside 1.5 miles of beach and 30 parks. Madrona Marsh, set aside for oil in 1924, is now a 43-acre wetland preserve with a nature center.
In Torrance, street trees belong to the city's list — the trees in your yard are the ones we work on.
The list
The trees on your side of the Torrance line: pruning, removal, palms
Supreme Tree Experts prunes, removes and trims palms on Torrance yard trees, while city-approved contractors handle parkway trees. When a yard tree blocks a view or drops fronds, Torrance owners call Supreme Tree Experts.
Tree Removal
We remove trees on your side of the property line, from small ornamentals to big shade trees. A street tree needs a free Public Works permit, and only a contractor on the city's list may cut it. We tell you which kind you have first.
Tree Trimming & Pruning
Our crews lace yard trees, thinning extra leaves while the tree keeps its form. Torrance's view rules rank lacing as the first choice of cut and removal as the last. It is also the gentlest cut for most trees.
Stump Grinding & Stump Removal
We grind stumps below grade so a new tree can go in. After a permitted street-tree removal, the city returns the deposit once the new tree passes inspection. On your own lot, what comes next is your choice.
Palm Tree Trimming & Skinning
We trim dead fronds and seed stalks from the queen palms and Canary Island date palms common here. Some blocks are lined with them, and many yards grow them too. Skinning then takes the old frond bases off, and our palm lift truck keeps spikes out of the bark.
Emergency Tree Service
When a tree on your lot fails, our crews respond 24/7. The city handles fallen street trees, and it skips its 21-day removal notice only for an immediate hazard. For your own trees, you need your own crew fast.
Tree Maintenance
We look over your yard trees each year and prune each kind on the cycle that suits it. City trees in Torrance run on a 2- to 6-year trim cycle, set by species. Yours need a schedule of their own.
Tree Height Reduction
Our crews bring tall crowns down with cuts back to side limbs, never by topping. The View Equity Ordinance can restore a hillside view to the purchase date, or to March 7, 2002. It covers private trees within 500 feet.
Estate Tree Care
Lots with many mature trees get one written plan from us. Each tree is checked for health, clearance from the house and wind load. The work is sorted by risk first, then by the best season for each kind.
Tree Shaping & Shrub Shearing
Our crew keeps hedges and shrubs on a steady shearing cycle. Hedges are the one place the city's view rules allow heading cuts, which clip stems to a set line. Trees get thinning cuts instead.
Landscaping
We plan beds and planting around your yard and your water use. Around a parkway tree, city code bars ivy, geraniums and anything taller than 18 inches. We keep front planting low near that tree.
Hardscape
We set paths and patios near a big tree on a firm base, keeping digging back from the main roots. Cutting a large root can weaken a tree's hold on the ground. We mark the root zone before we plan the layout.
How we work in Torrance, before anything is cut
- 01.
Yours or the city's?
An arborist checks where the tree stands. Parkway trees need a city permit and a city-approved contractor, so we tell you who to call.
- Property line checked
- Streetscape number given
- 02.
Pick the cuts
We walk you through each limb that comes off. On view jobs, thinning comes before any heavier cut.
- Lacing tried first
- No topping
- 03.
Crew on site
The crew lowers the wood, chips the brush and grinds any stump you name.
- Brush chipped
- Stumps ground to order
Torrance's contractor standard, met by our own crew and trucks since 1985
Tree work goes wrong when it is rushed or under-equipped. We run our own 75-foot boom trucks, lift trucks, chippers and stump grinders, and every crew works under an ISA Certified Arborist — so the job gets done right the first time.
We hold California license #1002853 for both landscaping and tree and palm work, we are bonded, we carry general liability and every employee is on workers’ compensation.
ISA Certified Arborist
An arborist visits at no cost and tells you if the tree is yours or the city's. City trees go to the Streetscape Division; yours we can quote.
Licensed, Bonded & Insured
Torrance holds its own street-tree contractors to rules on insurance and licensing. Hold us to the same: CSLB #1002853 (C-61/D-49 tree service, C-27 landscaping), bonded, every crew member insured.
Southern California Since 1985
We started in 1985, 64 years after Torrance became a city in 1921. The same family still runs the business.
Our Own Equipment
We own our 75-foot boom trucks, lift truck, chippers and stump grinders, so one crew arrives with all it needs.
Reviews to read before you book in Torrance
Every word below was written by a customer on Google, not by us. Long reviews are shortened to fit the card — never reworded. None of them was left in Torrance: they come from customers across Southern California. Read them for how a crew behaves on a job, then decide whether that is who you want in Torrance.
“Great pricing & service. Highly competent with tricky jobs. We have used them for more than 10 years.”
Melanie Butler
Local Guide
“We got bids from five contractors. After I talked to them all and checked out their licenses and work, we decided to go with Supreme. … The job took a day and a half, and when they were done, they left the place immaculate.”
Hank Shaeffer
“Great tree trimmers! I’ve used Supreme Tree Experts twice to trim the palm trees in my yard. … The guys who come out are quick thorough, and clean. And very careful not to damage property.”
Emilie Pacheco
“These guys have worked on my property 3 times now. They are always on time and do a fantastic job. I highly recommend them!”
Ray Thompson
“After soliciting several quotes on some difficult yard work, we chose Supreme because of their licensed Arborist Temis … The crew was extremely hard working and we couldn’t believe their continuous work ethic on one of the hottest days of the year.”
Gary Brown
Local Guide
Before you book in Torrance
6 questions worth having answered before you book tree work in Torrance. If yours is not here, call 877-787-7363 and ask.
No — only a contractor on the city's approved list can. City code requires a Public Works permit to trim or remove a street tree, and the work must go to one of the approved contractors. The permit is free, but the owner pays the contractor. Call the Streetscape Division at (310) 781-6900. We work on the trees on your side of the property line.
If both homes are in the Hillside Overlay, the View Equity Ordinance may help. It covers private trees within 500 feet, not city trees. Neighbors talk first, then can move to mediation or arbitration. Lacing is the first choice of cut and removal the last. You can restore a view back to your purchase date, or to March 7, 2002, if you bought earlier.
No. Torrance trims its trees for their health and for safety, power-line, traffic and building clearance. The city says plainly that it does not trim for views. Its trees are on a 2- to 6-year cycle, depending on the species, and five ISA-certified arborists on staff oversee the work.
Keep it low. City code bars ivy, geraniums or other plants taller than 18 inches around a parkway tree. A new or replacement parkway tree must come from the city's list of trees of limited height. If a tree is removed under permit, the deposit comes back once the new tree passes inspection.
Yes — $600 for tree services, wherever the job is. On hillside lots, the slope and how the crew reaches the tree shape much of the cost.
Yes, 24/7. The city handles fallen street trees; when a tree on your own lot fails, you need your own crew fast. Call 877-787-7363.
Torrance and its surroundings
Torrance runs from 1.5 miles of beach inland past Old Torrance and Madrona Marsh.
- ZIP code
- 90505