Permits and Law

Landscaper’s Guide for Construction Site – Tree Ordinance Mitigation

By Keith BrownPublished December 8, 2009Updated August 1, 2026

Published December 2009.

As a landscaper, your job might not be to manage tree ordinance compliance, but planting trees from this specific list will help your client (the contractor) keep their costs down. Planting trees from the list below will count toward the tree mitigation fines. Any plantings that are done as a requirement to the landscape plan do NOT count toward tree mitigation. But, if you happen to plant above and beyond the requirements then the extra will count.

75% of the trees planted must be from the class one list; 25% can be from the class two list.

pdf version of list

Some more tree ordinance mitigation tips:

Trees 19” diameter trunk and larger on residential sites are considered protected. Trees 8” diameter and larger are considered protected on commercial sites.
Any tree pruning done can be used to count toward mitigation fines.
Tree fertilizing can (should) be done and counts toward tree mitigation fines.
Any fines remaining after replacement trees, pruning and fertilizing may be settled in two ways:
1. Paying the fine, or
2. Purchasing future tree services. For example: pre-paying for two years of a fertilization program.

There are specific guidelines for landscaping on new construction sites that are not related to the city’s tree protection ordinance. And, your landscaping plan doesn’t have to consider the tree ordinance to get approved. Because of these two facts there is often a complete disconnect between what needs to be done for tree ordinance mitigation and what actually gets planted.

Common questions

In 2009, did landscape plantings count toward Austin tree mitigation?

Only the extra ones. Writing in 2009: planting trees from the City of Austin's approved list will count toward the tree mitigation fines, but any plantings that are done as a requirement to the landscape plan do NOT count toward tree mitigation. If you happen to plant above and beyond the requirements then the extra will count.

In 2009, what was the class one and class two split for Austin mitigation plantings?

75% of the trees planted must be from the class one list; 25% can be from the class two list. The class one and class two lists themselves are the City of Austin's own document, which this post links to rather than restating it.

In 2009, what counted toward Austin tree mitigation besides planting trees?

Writing in 2009: any tree pruning done can be used to count toward mitigation fines, and tree fertilizing can (should) be done and counts toward tree mitigation fines. Any fines remaining after replacement trees, pruning and fertilizing may be settled in two ways — paying the fine, or purchasing future tree services.

In 2009, what size trees were protected on residential and commercial sites in Austin?

Trees 19" diameter trunk and larger on residential sites are considered protected. Trees 8" diameter and larger are considered protected on commercial sites. Those are City of Austin ordinance figures as they stood in 2009.

Why does a landscape plan so often miss tree ordinance mitigation?

Because the two are approved separately. There are specific guidelines for landscaping on new construction sites that are not related to the city's tree protection ordinance, and your landscaping plan doesn't have to consider the tree ordinance to get approved. Because of these two facts there is often a complete disconnect between what needs to be done for tree ordinance mitigation and what actually gets planted.

Common questions

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