Boulevard Tree Pruning
Forestry crews prune boulevard trees for a variety of reasons, including:
- To remove dead limbs (typically limbs greater than 3" in diameter) that could fall and cause damage or injuries
- To remove limbs that obstruct vehicle traffic, traffic signs and signals, street lighting, pedestrian walk ways, buildings, and power lines
- To provide street clearance for maintenance, delivery, and emergency vehicles (usually 14 - 16' above street level)
- To fix growth defects and to establish good structure
Public property trees are pruned in accordance with the American National Standards and care is taken to ensure the health of the trees and the urban forest as a whole.
Xcel Energy is responsible for pruning trees along power lines. For information regarding power line pruning, please call Xcel Energy at 1-800-895-4999.
Residents should refrain from pruning trees, but notify Forestry with trees of concern. However, residents may prune suckers from trees. Residents may submit a free permit application if they wish to hire a private contractor to prune boulevard trees.
Pruning Requests:
Contact Forestry with any pruning requests.
Forestry will not prune trees:
- To improve a view
- If it blocks a commercial sign
- If it interferes with Xcel Energy owned utility lines (call Xcel at 1-800-895-4999 to request pruning)
- To allow more sunlight to reach a solar panel, the ground, or a TV satellite