Tree service for northwest Palm Bay — Lockmar, Emerald Lakes and the big-oak streets
The northwest quadrant between Minton Road and Malabar Road has some of the city's best live oaks and some of its oldest pines. We keep the first and take down the second.
Northwest Palm Bay — Lockmar Estates, Emerald Lakes, the streets off Minton Road, Malabar Road and Eldron Boulevard up to the Melbourne line — was built in the '80s and '90s on lots that kept more of their original trees than the rest of the city. That means big live oaks over the streets and the front yards, which are the best trees in Florida and worth every dollar spent on them; it also means original slash pines from the flatwoods, now 60 feet tall and forty years past their construction root damage, and the laurel oaks that were planted in between. Add the FPL lines along Minton and Malabar and the older houses' lower rooflines, and the northwest is a quadrant of pruning as much as removal.
The work here is keeping the live oaks: deadwooding, thinning for wind, lifting the canopy off the roof and the driveway, structural work on the younger ones, all to the ANSI standard with no topping. Around them it's taking down what has to go — the pines that are dying from the top, the laurel oaks with cavities — often with a crane because the live oak canopy leaves nowhere to lower anything. And it's the same storm rhythm as the rest of the city: pre-season prep in spring, hangers and cleanup in the days after, with the older, bigger canopy here taking the wind first.
What we do in Northwest Palm Bay & Lockmar
Live oak care
Deadwooding, thinning, canopy lifting and structural pruning on the quadrant's best trees — cut at the collar, never topped.
Pine removals
Forty-year-old slash pines dying from the top, taken down before they snap; craned when the oak canopy leaves no drop zone.
Laurel oaks
The in-between plantings, hollow at 50, removed and the stumps ground.
Roof and wire clearance
Canopies lifted off the older, lower rooflines; clearance from the service drop; FPL called for the primaries along Minton and Malabar.
Storm prep and cleanup
Spring thinning and deadwooding; hangers and cleanup after every storm.
Stumps
Ground low and backfilled so the lawn goes back flat.
Neighborhoods, streets and communities we cover
- Lockmar Estates
- Emerald Lakes
- Minton Road corridor
- Malabar Road west of Minton
- Eldron Boulevard (NW)
- Jupiter Boulevard north
- Degroodt Road north
- Port Malabar Boulevard west
- Emerson Drive north
- Waco Boulevard (NW)
- Americana Boulevard
- Palm Bay Colony west
- Turkey Creek headwaters
- Melbourne city-line streets
Tree services available in Northwest Palm Bay & Lockmar
- Tree removal, crane tree removal, 24/7 emergency & storm service
- Tree trimming & pruning, hurricane prep, storm cleanup
- Palm trimming, palm removal, stump grinding
- Lot & land clearing, Brazilian pepper & invasive removal
- Commercial & HOA tree service
Questions from Northwest Palm Bay & Lockmar homeowners
How much can you thin a big live oak?
About a quarter of the live canopy in a year, and on a mature live oak usually less is more — dead wood out, interior crossing limbs, a lift off the roof. A live oak that's been thinned properly is the most storm-proof tree you can own; one that's been topped or hat-racked is the opposite.
The pines on my lot are 60 feet tall. Should they come down?
Only the ones that are dying. A slash pine with a full green top and no lean is a strong tree; one with a thinning or browning top, sap flows on the trunk or a new lean has failed roots and is coming down in the next big wind. The arborist grades each one.
Can you crane a tree out from under my live oaks?
Yes — that's exactly when a crane earns its keep: a dead pine or a hollow laurel oak under a live oak canopy with nowhere to lower anything. The crane lifts sections straight up through a gap and sets them on the street.
Will you trim the oak that's in the FPL line on Minton?
We clear to your service drop and the low lines. The high-voltage primaries are FPL's; request a trim through FPL and their contractor does it. We'll tell you which line is which on the estimate.
Do I need a permit up here?
Not on a single-family lot under an acre; never for invasives. Lots over an acre — there are some in Lockmar — go through the Planning Division.
Nearby: Northeast Palm Bay & Port Malabar · Southwest Palm Bay & the Compound · West Melbourne · full service area