Highlands Ranch Tree Trimming, Removal & Stump Grinding
Trimming, removal, stump grinding and treatments across every part of Highlands Ranch. The first homes went up in 1981 and 84% of the community was built between 1980 and 2009, so the trees went in together and they reach each decision together.
Knowing which decision your trees are at, and in what order to take them, costs you nothing and changes what the next five years cost.
Free on-site assessment · Written quote · No obligation
Before 1978 this was the Highlands Ranch cattle operation, and the Metro District still describes the natural open space here as a shortgrass prairie environment. Shortgrass prairie does not come with trees. The Mission Viejo Company bought the land in 1978 and the first homes went up near South Broadway in 1981.
Then look at the build curve: 14.4% of homes in the 1980s, 44.1% in the 1990s, 25.6% in the 2000s. Eighty-four per cent of Highlands Ranch was built inside thirty years, and almost every tree was put in the ground within a year or two of the house it stands beside.
That is a genuinely unusual situation and it has one consequence people feel without being able to name it. A canopy planted together matures together. The same species hits the same size, the same structural weakness and the same end of life on the same street in the same decade — which is why a neighbourhood can look fine for twenty years and then seem to fall apart all at once.
1981
First homes built here
84%
Of homes built 1980–2009
14,500+
Trees the Metro District maintains
8,200
Acres of Backcountry Wilderness
Highlands Ranch is not a city. It is an unincorporated community in Douglas County, and responsibility is split three ways: Douglas County is the unit of government, the Highlands Ranch Metro District maintains more than 14,500 trees in parks and along roadways, and the Highlands Ranch Community Association enforces the covenants that govern private landscaping. Trees on your own property are yours.
The HRCA publishes what needs Architectural Committee approval and what does not. Read the second column carefully, because it is the one that shapes what most people actually do.
A landscape plan needs Architectural Committee approval if it includes “less than 50% sod in the ‘front’ and/or ‘rear’ yards,” a xeriscaping plan, hardscape or paving, retaining walls or grade changes, seeding rather than sod, or if the property adjoins open space. In other words: the water-wise rethink that a drought year argues for is the one that needs a form and a wait.
Approval is not required for “replacing dead or dying landscape elements with the same type of landscape elements.” That is the path of least resistance, and it is the exact opposite of what a monoculture needs. Replacing a dead ash with another ash is the easy option here, and it is how a street loses the same tree twice. Check your own covenants first — we are not your HOA and do not speak for them.
Nearly every complaint people have about tree companies comes down to the same thing: something happened that the homeowner never agreed to. These five exist so that cannot happen here.
Highlands Ranch Water — the district renamed from Centennial Water and Sanitation in December 2024 — brought in Stage 1 drought restrictions in April 2026. Odd addresses water Wednesday and Saturday, even addresses Thursday and Sunday, nothing between 10 AM and 6 PM from May through September. As of mid-September 2026 the area was in extreme drought on the US Drought Monitor.
Two things in that rulebook matter for trees. The first is the exemption: drip irrigation and hand-watering with a shut-off nozzle are allowed any time. Your sprinklers being rationed does not mean your trees have to go thirsty.
The second is that the district’s turf replacement rebate has already exhausted its 2026 funding and does not reopen until 1 March 2027. If you were planning to convert lawn this autumn, that changes the maths — and it is worth knowing before you take out grass that was at least shading a root zone. HRCA CEO Mike Bailey has said the association is “encouraging long-term solutions like ColoradoScape by waiving architectural review fees.”
★★★★★
“ZERO limbs broke off of my 80 year old siberian elm! Storms like we just had leave me feeling scared not knowing if the tree was going to break onto the house.”
— S. S. · Verified Google Review
★★★★★
“Ben, Richard, Jeff and Elijah were great. They all displayed professionalism and genuine care for protecting our plants. Work was high quality and clean up was fantastic.”
— Bernadette P. · Verified Google Review
★★★★★
“Ironwood Earthcare trimmed one of our trees and removed a stump quickly and efficiently. All debris was cleared away and the whole job lasted only 2 hours.”
— Vanessa S. · Verified Google Review
No. It has not been confirmed in Highlands Ranch. The first confirmed Douglas County detection was in Parker in 2026. Some regional reporting has used loose geography that reads as though Highlands Ranch is a detection site — it is not, and we are not going to tell you it is to sell you a treatment.
Because they were almost certainly planted at the same time. Highlands Ranch was shortgrass prairie until construction began in 1981, and 84% of its homes went up between 1980 and 2009. Trees of the same species planted in the same years hit the same size, the same structural weaknesses and the same end of life together. It is not your imagination and it is not a coincidence.
Check your own covenants, because the HRCA governs private landscaping through the Architectural Committee. What the HRCA publishes is that approval is required for things like less than 50% sod in a yard, xeriscaping plans, hardscape, grade changes and properties adjoining open space — and that it is not required for “replacing dead or dying landscape elements with the same type of landscape elements.” We are not your HOA and cannot approve anything; ask them first.
The Highlands Ranch Metro District, which maintains more than 14,500 trees in parks and along roadways. Its Forestry Supervisor is Caleb Palmer, 720-240-5915. Trees on your own property are not part of that programme. If you are unsure where the line falls on your lot, that is one of the first things we sort out at the assessment.
Yes. Drip irrigation and hand-watering with a shut-off nozzle are allowed any time under Highlands Ranch Water’s Stage 1 rules. Sprinkler days are assigned by address — odd Wednesday and Saturday, even Thursday and Sunday — with nothing between 10 AM and 6 PM from May through September. The tree exemption is the part most people never read, and it is the part that keeps a mature tree alive through a dry autumn.
Not for 2026. Highlands Ranch Water states that all rebate funding for 2026 has been exhausted and the programme reopens 1 March 2027. If you were planning an autumn lawn conversion, that is worth knowing before you start. It is also worth thinking about what the turf was doing for the tree beside it, because rock over fabric right up to a trunk is hard on a root zone.
One ISA Certified Arborist behind all six, and one written quote if you need more than one of them.
Tree Removal · Tree Trimming & Pruning · Stump Grinding · Pest & Disease Control · Tree Injections · Lawn Fertilization & Weed Control
Aurora · Denver · Centennial · Parker · Castle Rock · Englewood · Littleton · Greenwood Village
An ISA Certified Arborist will walk the property, tell you which of your trees are at the same decision point and which are not, and put it in writing. Free, with no obligation.
312 Norfolk St, Unit A, Aurora, CO 80011 · Monday to Friday, 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM · Serving Highlands Ranch and the Denver metro since 2003