Tree Removal Permits in Miami Gardens

Miami Gardens regulates pruning on the same footing as removal, and the line is drawn at a quarter of the canopy. Section 34-447 makes it unlawful to remove, hatrack, effectively destroy, remove greater than 25 percent of a tree's canopy within a 12-month period, impact the critical root zone of a specimen tree, or conduct canopy or root trimming work not in accordance with ANSI A-300 standards. A routine reduction can cross that line without anything coming down. TWQ Landscaping prepares and files these applications, and our ISA Certified Arborist (NY-6948A) produces the supporting report where one is required.

Does This Apply to Your Property?

Three sections of the city code do the work here. Section 34-447 is the tree preservation and protection permit. Section 34-448 sets the procedure for determining tree replacement requirements. Section 34-450 creates the Miami Gardens Tree Trust Fund. Section 34-447 treats a tree removed without proper authorization as grounds for doubled replacement, so authorization is the thing to establish before a crew is booked. Whether a particular tree on your property is covered is settled with the city.

The residential position runs through the county rather than the city. Miami-Dade Section 24-49(4)(a) exempts ordinary yard trees at an existing single-family residence. The exemption is conditional. The tree must not be a specimen, must not sit in a natural forest community, and must not stand in the county right of way. The city tree and landscape chapters add nothing stricter than that. A municipality is entitled to be stricter than the county, so confirm with the city before removal.

What Needs a Permit

The permit is called a tree impact permit rather than a removal permit, which matters when asking for it. Section 34-447 requires one for the removal or relocation of any tree in the city not specifically exempted under subsection 34-447(5). There is no size threshold in that sentence. Four further acts are unlawful in the same provision and three of them apply to a tree that is staying: hatracking, removing more than 25 percent of a tree's canopy in any 12-month period, impacting the critical root zone of a specimen tree, and any canopy or root trimming work that does not conform to ANSI A-300.

The exemptions are real but none of them is self-executing. Subsection 34-447(5) provides that the listed activities may qualify for exemption subject to review by city staff, and that applicants must submit a tree removal application to the city to verify applicability of an exemption prior to conducting tree removal. The application goes in either way, and what changes is the outcome rather than the paperwork.

Two of those routes run through the credential rather than through the tree. Removal of trees determined by a properly qualified ISA certified arborist to be classified as high risk is exempt where mitigation options to remove risk are not viable. And removal of any tree that state or federal law specifically exempts from a permit must be documented as compliant with the rule by an appropriately qualified ISA certified arborist in a written report, with a courtesy copy provided to the city. In both cases the arborist report is the exemption rather than a document supporting one.

The other exemptions cover work already authorized by the county inside a designated natural forest community, a dead tree demonstrated to have died from natural causes without significant harm from human activity and outside a natural forest community, prohibited and controlled species as defined in the county code and landscape manual, a tree destroyed by an act of God outside the owner's control, and wetland or mangrove work already permitted under federal, state or county authority including the state Mangrove Trimming and Preservation Act. Trees inside a natural forest community are referred to Miami-Dade County for authorization.

One caution on citing any of this. The published exemption list letters two consecutive items b, and the subsection numbering runs 1, 2, 4, 5, 6 with no 3. Both are defects in the code as published rather than transcription errors, so quote the text of the exemption you are relying on rather than its letter.

Section 34-447 defines a specimen tree, and the definition is the one to check first on any property. A specimen tree has a trunk which measures 18 inches or more in DBH, or multiple trunks which collectively measure 18 inches or more in DBH. The definition then adds a judgment. The tree must, based on its health, condition and species, be able to contribute positively to the surrounding community.

The multiple trunk clause changes what counts. Three clumping trunks of six inches each collectively measure 18 inches, so that tree meets the specimen definition in Miami Gardens. A tree without any single 18 inch stem can still be a specimen. Where a tree on your property carries more than one trunk, measure every trunk and add them together before deciding what the job is.

Section 34-447 also closes the exemption route. Trees removed under claim of any exemption, without documentation to verify the exemption, are subject to the tree removal permit requirements including penalties for unauthorized removal as applicable. The trigger there is the missing documentation rather than the merit of the exemption. That makes the survey, the photographs and the species and size record part of the work rather than paperwork after it.

What It Costs

The number that decides a budget in Miami Gardens is the replacement obligation. Section 34-448 measures it in square feet of canopy lost rather than in trees removed. Each replacement tree then compensates for a set portion of that lost area. A category 1 shade tree covers 500 square feet and a category 2 shade tree 300. A category 1 palm covers 300 square feet, a category 2 palm 100, and a small tree 200.

Where the site cannot take the required trees, the applicant plants off site with approval, or pays. Section 34-448 sets an equitable contribution to the city tree trust fund in the amount of $2.00 per square foot of lost canopy. It compensates for those replacement trees which cannot be accommodated on site. The section adds that the city landscape manual may adjust this cost periodically, by way of a multiplier, to account for inflation. We confirm the operative figure with the city before quoting.

Two further rules move the total in opposite directions. Trees that are not on the county's prohibited species list but are listed as Category I on the Florida Exotic Pest Plant Council's current list of invasive species have canopy replacement calculated at 50 percent of actual loss. And where a replacement tree carries more canopy at planting than its category allows for, the applicant receives full credit for the canopy actually provided. Planting larger is credited, so the replacement schedule is worth designing rather than filling in.

The replacement stock is specified rather than left open. At planting, a category 1 shade tree is 16 feet in height with 3 inches DBH, and a category 2 shade tree 12 feet with 2 inches DBH. A category 1 palm is 10 feet, a category 2 palm 3 feet, and a small tree 6 feet with 1 inch DBH. All replacements must be Florida No. 1 grade or better. Palm heights are measured by gray wood or clear trunk, and tree heights from the ground to the topmost branch.

Species composition is prescribed as well. A minimum of 50 percent of all replacement trees planted shall be native to the county, and no more than 30 percent of the replacement trees shall be palms. Where native trees are removed, all replacement trees shall be native species. Diversity minimums then apply by count: 2 species for 11 to 20 trees, 4 for 21 to 50, and 6 for 51 or more, capped at six species.

The contribution goes somewhere specific. Section 34-450 establishes the Miami Gardens Tree Trust Fund separately from the general revenue and other accounts of the city. Funds disbursed from it are used exclusively for tree planting and relocation on public property within the city. Trees purchased may also be given to the general public. No more than ten percent of a year's disbursements may go to supporting activities such as tree inventories, landscape design services, inspections of new plantings, irrigation and staff training.

What Happens If It Is Done Without a Permit

Section 34-447 sets the mitigation for unauthorized removal. In addition to the penalties imposed in the article, trees removed without proper authorization are replaced on the basis of twice the standard replacement requirements under Section 34-448. The doubling applies to the replacement calculation itself, so it scales with the canopy that was lost. That is the part of the exposure to work out before a job rather than after it.

Removing the evidence does not close the question. If a tree removed is no longer on site, the city estimates the size of the tree removed. It uses all readily available records and data, such as the stump, historic photos and historic records. Read that alongside the exemption rule and the position is consistent. An undocumented exemption claim and an absent tree both land on the unauthorized removal side, and both are priced at double.

What to Check With Your Contractor

Section 34-447 names a pruning standard, and that makes the specification on a proposal a compliance question rather than a matter of preference. Canopy or root trimming work that is not in accordance with ANSI A-300 standards is unlawful in Miami Gardens. Ask which standard a bid is written to before it is accepted.

Two numbers bound what a crew may do without a permit. Removing more than 25 percent of a tree's canopy within a 12-month period requires one, so the twelve months before your crew arrives are part of the calculation and a second trim in the same year can be the one that crosses the line. And impacting the critical root zone of a specimen tree requires one, which reaches trenching, grade changes and equipment traffic as much as it reaches pruning.

Hatracking is named in the prohibition alongside removal, so the city can reach a topped tree whether or not it survives, and the mitigation for unauthorized removal is the route it runs through.

What to Do Next

Four things are worth settling before tree work is scheduled in Miami Gardens. Whether any tree in scope meets the specimen definition, counting multiple trunks together. How much canopy the work removes, in square feet. Whether the site can take the replacement trees or the contribution applies instead. And what the contribution rate currently is, after any landscape manual multiplier. A tree survey may be required to establish existing canopy. More than 20 replacement trees triggers a full landscape replacement plan, and the proposed replacement list goes in on a form provided by the administrative official.

We settle all four before quoting. We inspect the trees, measure every trunk, and document species, size and condition. We calculate the canopy area at stake, prepare the arborist report where the application calls for one, file the permit, and handle replacement planting to the standards Section 34-448 sets. TWQ Landscaping handles tree permitting for the properties we maintain across Broward, Palm Beach and Miami-Dade: community associations and condominiums, commercial and industrial sites, medical and senior living campuses, schools, religious campuses, hotels, multifamily rental, self-storage, dealerships, retail outparcels, marinas, mobile home communities, municipal grounds and mixed-use. Call (954) 583-4752 or request a proposal.

TWQ Landscaping maintains commercial and community association property in Miami Gardens. See landscaping services in Miami Gardens.

The information presented on this page was accurate as of 10 September 2026.

Related Services

• Tree Care (Overview)
• Tree Trimming & Pruning
• Root Pruning
• Palm Tree Care
• Palm Tree Strapping
• Tree Removal
• Invasive Tree Species Removal
• Emergency Tree Services
• Tree Health & Risk Assessments
• Tree Inventory & Management Plans