Cincinnati Park Board Division of Natural Resources Urban Forestry Program staff
have been working in your community to prepare for the upcoming preventative tree
maintenance cycle. Trees are one of the few parts of city infrastructure that will
increase in value, and whose continued growth,
health and good condition can also contribute up to 20% to the value of a property.
The goal of neighborhood preventive tree maintenance is to address tree conditions
before they become a problem, by ensuring your community’s street tree canopy will
be safer and healthier. All city street trees located on public right of way (typically
between the street and sidewalk) are inspected at least once every six years to identify
maintenance needs.
All maintenance work is directed and inspected by Urban Forestry staff who have selected a
professional tree service company that has shown their ability to perform these services according to
national industry standards. Revenue from a special urban forestry assessment, approved annually by
City Council, funds this important work. Work will include:
1. Pruning - to improve the strength and form of public trees long term, including the removal
of all dead, diseased, broken, or rubbing branches.
Clearance of branches growing less than 8ft over a sidewalk or yard, and 14ft over a
roadway including those that are blocking the view of signs, streetlights, and signals.
Note: Pruning for the clearance of utility lines is the utility company's responsibility
and will not be performed as part of this maintenance.
2. Removal - of trees that are identified as dead, diseased, structurally unsound, or not likely to
survive before the next maintenance cycle occurs again.
3. Stump Removal – stump grindings left in a mound on the stump location to allow the grade
of the area to return to level as the grindings naturally decay and settle.
4. Planting - new trees to replace those removed where appropriate during the season following
the maintenance work using tree species appropriate to the site conditions.
