The City of Burlington’s annual street tree pruning program is underway.
Our street tree pruning program is important work that protects and manages our urban forest and provides many additional benefits to our communities including:
A properly pruned tree has a better chance of making it through a storm and other significant weather events. Fewer broken tree limbs and trees means more trees stay in the ground and off the ground!
The City of Burlington employs Certified Arborists to prune municipal trees. Both internal crews and contractors perform pruning work on city trees. They are highly trained, qualified and follow the City’s approved Tree Pruning Standards and International Society of Arboriculture best practices.
The City of Burlington’s Street tree pruning cycle is based on:
Trees are pruned to remove weak, dead or diseased branches. They are also pruned to create a canopy over streets and sidewalks so pedestrians, cars and service vehicles can travel under the trees without damaging them. Pruning is a proven practice to help grow strong, healthy, resilient trees.
This spring and summer, street tree pruning is scheduled for:
Note: To help prevent the introduction and spread of Oak Wilt, Oak trees will not be pruned before November 1st.
We appreciate that Burlington residents are passionate about our urban forest. City staff and contractors are working to keep our trees healthy, so we ask residents to please be patient and understanding as this important work is done to protect and enhance the City’s urban forest.
The street tree pruning cycle is primarily based on the characteristics of trees and the fact they are living organisms and their health can be affected by many external factors. One of the primary objectives of the grid pruning program is to mitigate any potential hazards within a tree, such as large deadwood and any obvious weakened and/or diseased limbs. Clearance pruning over sidewalks and roadways, where applicable, will be performed to allow for unimpeded pedestrian and vehicular traffic. Where required, low limbs from private trees encroaching over sidewalks or roadways will also be pruned back to allow for safe passage.
Please send any questions about to the City’s Street Tree Pruning Program to city@burlington.ca.