How to Get an Alabama Tree Surgery License




Last updated:

Alabama licenses tree work directly — it just does not call it arboriculture. The Department of Agriculture and Industries issues a Horticulture Professional Services License to businesses that engage in and solicit for four named categories, and one of them is Tree Surgery (TS). The license rests on a certified operator who has passed the commercial applicator process for the relevant categories, and it costs a flat $175 a year for the Horticulture Professional Services License (Tree Surgery and the other horticulture categories are included).

Running tree work as a business? Put the entity underneath it first

If an LLC fits your business, ZenBusiness can help prepare and submit the formation filing. Starter begins at $0 plus state filing fees. Review optional services and renewal terms before ordering; licenses and ongoing business obligations are separate.

Affiliate link — we earn a commission at no cost to you.

Start my Alabama LLC →

$0 + $200 Alabama state fee · Prefer DIY? You can file directly with the Alabama Secretary of State — the state fee is identical either way.

What Alabama Actually Requires

  • ★ A Horticulture Professional Services License for businesses that engage in and solicit for — advertising counts — any of these categories.
  • The four categories: Landscape Design (LD), Tree Surgery (TS), Setting of Landscape Plants (SLP), and Ornamental & Turf Pest Control (OTPS).
  • ★ A certified operator who has taken, passed and submitted their Commercial Applicators License Application with the appropriate fees for the corresponding categories.
  • $175 a year flat for the Horticulture Professional Services License (covers LD, TS, SLP, and OTPS). Do not use the Structural Professional Services stack ($175 main / $75 branch / $50 sub + $100 per category) — that schedule is for structural pest control, not tree surgery.
  • No insurance or bond stated for the Horticulture license — those requirements attach to the Structural Professional Services licenses rather than horticultural ones.
  • Separate categories mean separate certification — Tree Surgery and Ornamental & Turf Pest Control are not the same credential.

What It Costs

Item Cost Notes
Horticulture Professional Services License $175 / year Flat fee — covers LD, TS, SLP, and OTPS (not the Structural $175+$75+$50+$100/category stack)
Certified operator Commercial applicator fees Must have passed and submitted the application for the corresponding categories
Insurance / bond Not stated for Horticulture Those requirements attach to Structural Professional Services licenses
Alabama LLC $200 Certificate of formation processing fee

Alabama Licenses “Tree Surgery” By Name

Search for an Alabama arborist license and you will find nothing, which is why most guides say Alabama does not regulate tree work. That is wrong. Alabama regulates it under a different word.

The Department of Agriculture and Industries issues a Horticulture Professional Services License to businesses that engage in and solicit for four named categories: Landscape Design (LD), Tree Surgery (TS), Setting of Landscape Plants (SLP), and Ornamental & Turf Pest Control (OTPS). Tree Surgery is a license category in its own right, sitting beside pest control rather than inside it. So a company that only prunes and removes — never touching a chemical — is still inside the scheme, which is unusual. In most states the pesticide license is the only hook, and pure cutting falls outside everything.

Note the trigger: “engage in and solicit for.” Alabama joins Ohio, Tennessee, Indiana, Kansas and Connecticut in reaching the advertisement as well as the work. Putting tree surgery on your website is part of what the license is for.

The license rests on a person, not just a payment. You need a certified operator who has taken, passed and submitted their Commercial Applicators License Application with the appropriate fees for the corresponding categories. Read the last four words carefully — the certification has to match the categories the business is licensed in. A certified operator qualified in Ornamental & Turf does not automatically carry the business for Tree Surgery.

The Horticulture license fee is simple: a flat $175 a year. That one fee covers Landscape Design, Tree Surgery, Setting of Landscape Plants, and Ornamental & Turf Pest Control. The stacked schedule you may see elsewhere — $175 main / $75 branch / $50 sub plus $100 per category — is the Structural Professional Services License, not horticulture/tree surgery. Budget the flat $175 horticulture fee, and keep Structural fees out of the tree-surgery math.

One thing Alabama does not do here is require insurance. The Horticulture Professional Services license carries no stated insurance or bond requirement — those attach to the Structural Professional Services licenses, which cover a different kind of pest work. So Alabama will license your tree surgery business without ever asking whether you are covered, which puts it with Kentucky, North Carolina and West Virginia rather than with Mississippi next door, where a $100,000 certificate is a condition of issue.

Compare insurance for your tree-service business

Simply Business offers insurance options for arborists and tree-service businesses. Describe tree removal, pruning, climbing heights, equipment, and any subcontracted work accurately. Ask which operations and height limits the quoted policy covers; a landscaping policy alone may not match your tree work. Review any licensing, client, or municipal insurance requirements before buying.

Affiliate link — we may earn a commission at no additional cost to you.

Explore tree-service insurance options →

How to Get Licensed, In Order

  1. Recognize that Tree Surgery is the category — searching for an arborist license will not find it.
  2. Decide which categories you will engage in or advertise: Tree Surgery, Ornamental & Turf Pest Control, Landscape Design, Setting of Landscape Plants.
  3. Get your certified operator qualified in those exact categories via the Commercial Applicators License Application.
  4. Budget the flat $175 Horticulture license — not the Structural office/category stack.
  5. Apply for the Horticulture Professional Services License with the operator’s certification submitted.
  6. Arrange liability cover on your own initiative, since the horticulture license does not require it.
  7. Register the business entity — $200 for the certificate of formation.

The crew, the contract and the cover all hang off the entity

If an LLC fits your business, ZenBusiness can help prepare and submit the formation filing. Starter begins at $0 plus state filing fees. Review optional services and renewal terms before ordering; licenses and ongoing business obligations are separate.

Affiliate link — we earn a commission at no cost to you.

Form your Alabama LLC →

Starts at $0 + Alabama state fee

Staying Licensed

The Horticulture Professional Services License is annual, so the flat $175 fee renews every year. Adding a category still requires your certified operator to be certified in it — the license only reaches as far as their certification does. Opening additional offices does not stack Structural-style branch/sub fees onto the horticulture license. Because the license depends on a certified operator, that person leaving is a licensing event: the business no longer meets the condition it was issued on. No insurance requirement attaches to renewal, so your cover review is a date you set yourself.

Data for Alabama

Free research and planning tools for starting a tree service in Alabama. Most of the data pages compare every state, so look for Alabama in the table or map.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does Alabama require an arborist license?

Not under that name — but yes in substance. Alabama licenses Tree Surgery as a named category of the Horticulture Professional Services License, issued by the Department of Agriculture and Industries. So while nobody in Alabama holds an arborist license, a business doing tree work does hold a license that covers it.

Who needs an Alabama Horticulture Professional Services License?

Businesses that engage in and solicit for Landscape Design (LD), Tree Surgery (TS), Setting of Landscape Plants (SLP) and Ornamental and Turf Pest Control (OTPS). Note the phrase engage in and solicit for — advertising the service is part of the trigger, not just performing it.

What does the Alabama license cost?

$175 a year flat for the Horticulture Professional Services License (covers LD, TS, SLP, and OTPS). The $175 main / $75 branch / $50 sub + $100 per category stack is the Structural Professional Services License, not horticulture/tree surgery.

Do I need a certified operator in Alabama?

Yes. The license requires a certified operator who has taken, passed and submitted their Commercial Applicators License Application with the appropriate fees for the corresponding categories. The business license rests on that person, so their departure is a licensing problem rather than only a staffing one.

Tree work sits alongside our full guide to starting a landscaping business in Alabama, and the wider guide to starting a business in Alabama. Or see how every state handles tree work in our arborist license requirements by state guide.

Sources

Source What It Covers
Alabama Agriculture & Industries — Professional Services That the Horticulture Professional Services License covers businesses that engage in and solicit for Landscape Design, Tree Surgery, Setting of Landscape Plants and Ornamental & Turf Pest Control, the certified operator requirement, and the $175 annual fee
Alabama Agriculture & Industries — horticultural license application That the Horticulture license is a flat $175/year (Structural stack does not apply)
Alabama Secretary of State — LLCs The $200 certificate of formation processing fee

More Alabama Business Guides

Robert Smith
About the Author

Robert Smith has run a licensed private investigation firm for 8 years from the Florida-Georgia state line - where he learned firsthand how wildly business licensing rules differ between states just miles apart. He personally researched requirements across all 50 states and D.C., reviewing hundreds of government sources over hundreds of hours to build guides he wished existed when he started. Not a lawyer or accountant - just a business owner who has done the research so you don't have to.

Learn more about our research process

© 2026 Start a Business by State
Written by a small business owner, not a lawyer or accountant. This is educational information, not professional advice. Always verify requirements with your state and local agencies.
About Contact Privacy Policy