The short version
Modesto Tree Care is a free referral service. Homeowners in Modesto, Ceres, Turlock, Riverbank, Oakdale, Salida, and Empire tell us what's going on with a tree; we connect them with an independent local tree service provider who works in their area and handles that kind of job. The provider gives the quote and does the work. We don't.
Modesto Tree Care connects Stanislaus County homeowners with independent, local tree service providers. We are not a tree service and do not perform tree work ourselves — providers are independently owned and operated, and we recommend verifying licensing and insurance directly with any provider before hiring.
What we are not
We are not a tree company. We don't hold a CSLB C-49 Tree and Palm Contractor license, we don't employ climbers or arborists, we don't own a chipper, and we never quote or perform tree work. When a page on this site says "we," it means the people who research and write this site and match inquiries to providers — nothing more. Any provider we refer you to is independently owned and operated; we recommend verifying their license at cslb.ca.gov and asking for proof of insurance before hiring, and we say so on every page where it's relevant.
How the local facts on this site are researched
Most tree-service websites either say nothing about cost and permits or repeat a national average. We try to do the harder thing: publish Modesto-specific facts, say where they came from, and date them.
- Prices come from independent cost-data sources publishing Modesto-specific figures, cross-checked against each other. Where we don't have a verified local number — a 40-foot tree, a palm-specific rate — the page says so instead of inventing one. Every figure carries the month it was checked.
- Permit and street-tree facts come from the City of Modesto, City of Ceres, and City of Turlock's own published pages. Where a claim circulates online that we couldn't find on a city page (a private-property "significant tree" rule, for example), we say it's unconfirmed rather than repeating it.
- Licensing facts come from the California Contractors State License Board (CSLB), including the C-49 classification and the current statewide minor-work exemption.
- Company information on our comparison page is limited to what each business publishes about itself or what a public City list shows. We don't rank companies, publish star ratings, or accept payment for placement.
- Tree-health guidance is general homeowner information, not an arborist's assessment. We say that on every page that offers it, because it's true.
Facts go stale. If a city process changes or a price range drifts, we'd rather hear about it and fix the page than be wrong — the contact page is the way to tell us.
How the matching works
You submit a short form (or, once our tracked line is live, call). We look at the job type and your city and pass the inquiry to a provider who serves that area and does that kind of work. They contact you directly to look at the tree and quote it. There's no charge to you for the referral, and no obligation to hire anyone we connect you with. Your contact details go only to the provider matched to your request — see the privacy policy for exactly what we collect and how it's used.
For tree service companies
If you run a licensed tree service in Stanislaus County and want to receive homeowner inquiries from this site, reach out through the contact page. We work with a small number of providers per area and ask every one to verify their CSLB license and insurance.