Parkway Tree Trimming

Village of Lombard Tree Trimming 2023

Public safety is the Village's first priority when pruning trees, followed by tree health and then aesthetics. Street trees have different maintenance requirements than landscape trees and are pruned accordingly. Normally no more than one-quarter of the live crown will be removed at one time. The determination of how much to remove is dependent upon tree species, size, and condition of the tree, as well as the duration between prune cycles. The Village tries to maintain a 6-year prune cycle for trees greater than 6 inches in diameter and a 3-year cycle for smaller diameter trees. This proactive pruning allows for a gradual raising of the crown, correction of defects early in the tree’s life and smaller pruning wounds which close more quickly. The shorter the pruning cycle, the less live material needs to be removed resulting in less stress to the tree. The natural form of the tree is maintained as much as possible, with tree growth directed upward and outward. 

During cyclic pruning established trees are pruned to a minimum height of 15 feet over roads and driveways and 8 feet over sidewalks. This allows for safe clearance by all vehicular and pedestrian traffic. It also ensures that any signage in the parkway is clearly visible. The remaining extent of pruning includes the removal of deadwood, removal of diseased, insect-infested, broken, hanging, weakly attached, or structurally unsound limbs, correction of storm damage, thinning of sucker growth, removal of limbs which interfere with utility lines, street lights or vegetation on private property and removal of limbs which conflict with other limbs.

The in-house Forestry crew also prunes trees throughout the Village year round. This pruning may be due to storm events, pro-active elimination of issues observed by staff or in response to a request from residents or businesses. "Area Pruning" of larger diameter trees is done annually by a contractor on a rotating basis throughout the Village.

The area being pruned in 2023 is depicted in the map below.