Tree service in Surfside and Garden City — the strictest small town on the Strand
Surfside Beach requires a permit to remove any tree over eight inches, fines up to $10,000 for a landmark, and is rewriting the ordinance to start at three inches. Garden City, next door, is unincorporated. The storm that defines both is Hugo.
Surfside Beach is 'the family beach,' two square miles of raised houses on 50-foot lots south of Myrtle Beach, and it takes its trees seriously: on an existing home lot you need a no-fee zoning permit to remove any tree over eight inches in diameter or to cut a limb over eight inches, a live oak, laurel oak or bald cypress over 24 inches is a landmark that needs an ISA arborist's letter, topping is illegal except on crape myrtles, permitted removals must be done by a licensed, bonded, insured company, and the fines run $500 per limb, $2,500 per protected tree and $10,000 per landmark. In August 2026 the town council passed first reading of a rewrite that would require permits from three inches, replace the $10,000 fine with the state's $500 municipal cap, bar violating contractors from permits for three years, and require emergency removals to be reported within seven days. Garden City, just south across the line, is unincorporated — the county's specimen-oak rule applies, with a special footprint exception written for the Garden City overlay.
Both towns are oceanfront on the stretch where Hurricane Hugo pushed a 13-foot surge ashore on September 22, 1989, destroying 43 percent of Garden City's beachfront, and both lost half the Surfside pier to Matthew in 2016. The trees are what you'd expect of a beach town: palmettos and salt-pruned live oaks on the ocean side, laurel and water oaks and pines in the older blocks toward 17 Business, and the marsh edge along Murrells Inlet behind Garden City. Our work is narrow-lot rigging over raised houses, palm cleanups before the season, the Surfside permit for nearly every removal (eight inches isn't big), and the arborist letter when a landmark has failed.
What we do in Surfside Beach & Garden City
Surfside permits
The no-fee zoning permit for any tree or limb over eight inches, filed before we cut; landmark letters from our ISA arborist.
Garden City county rules
The specimen live oak rule and the Garden City overlay's footprint exception, applied correctly.
Raised-house rigging
Oaks and pines over houses on pilings taken in sections on 50-foot lots; crane from the street when needed.
Oceanfront palms
Palmettos cleaned to the 9-and-3 line; dune vegetation left alone (OCRM and the town both regulate it).
Licensed, bonded, insured
Surfside requires it for permitted removals; our certificate is on file with the town.
Storm response
Hugo's surge line, Matthew's pier — we answer 24/7, and emergency removals are reported to the town within the deadline.
Neighborhoods and areas we cover
- Surfside Beach (oceanfront)
- Surfside Beach (17 Business side)
- Garden City Beach
- Garden City (Inlet side)
- Deerfield Plantation
- Ocean Lakes area
- Lakewood
- Glenns Bay Road corridor
- Hwy 17 Business / Surfside Drive
- Floral Beach
- Murrells Inlet border
- Burgess border
Tree services available in Surfside Beach & Garden City
- Tree removal, 24/7 emergency service, crane removal
- Trimming & pruning, live oak care, palmetto & palm trimming
- Pine removal & bark beetles, stump grinding, permits & arborist reports
- Hurricane prep, storm cleanup, lot clearing
Questions from Surfside Beach & Garden City homeowners
Do I need a permit to take down a 10-inch oak in Surfside?
Yes — the town requires a no-fee zoning permit for any tree over eight inches on an existing home lot. If the rewrite passes second reading, the line drops to three inches. We file it; it's quick for a dead or hazardous tree.
What's a landmark in Surfside?
A live oak, laurel oak or bald cypress over 24 inches. Removing one needs a letter from an ISA Certified Arborist, forester or landscape architect, and the fine for doing it without approval is $10,000 under the current ordinance.
Can I cut a big limb off my own tree?
If the limb is over eight inches in diameter, Surfside requires the same permit as a removal. Smaller limbs, and any pruning to the standard, no.
Is Garden City under Surfside's rules?
No — Garden City is unincorporated Horry County. The county's specimen live oak rule (24 inches) applies, with a footprint exception specific to the Garden City overlay. We check which side of the line you're on.
Nearby: Market Common · Murrells Inlet · Forestbrook & Socastee · Pawleys & Litchfield · full service area