Salt Lake City’s historic canopy is a trimming city’s dream and a homeowner’s chore list. The mature sycamores, elms, and honey locusts of the Avenues and Sugar House need regular clearance work — limbs off the old brick rooflines, growth away from the service drops, canopies raised over sidewalks that see real foot traffic — and the narrow lots mean it’s all careful climbing work.
City trees follow city rules: anything in the parking strip belongs to SLC Urban Forestry, and even trimming those requires their permission. On your side of the sidewalk, we keep the historic trees looking like they belong to the neighborhood — shaped to their natural form, never topped, with clean cuts that a hundred-year-old tree can close over.
How tree trimming works with us
- 1
Walk-through and estimate
We walk the property with you, flag every limb that’s coming off, and quote it in writing.
- 2
Climb or bucket trimming
Clean cuts at the branch collar, clearance distances to code, natural shape preserved.
- 3
Debris chipped and hauled
Everything that comes down goes in the chipper and leaves with us.
Tree Trimming in Salt Lake City — your questions
Can I trim the city-owned parking-strip tree in front of my Salt Lake City house?
Not without permission — SLC Urban Forestry manages the strip trees, and that includes pruning, not just removal. The city handles structural work on its schedule; for clearance issues (blocked sidewalk, scraping cars) you can request service or apply for a permit to have it done. We’re happy to do the permitted work once you have the green light.
How do you trim 100-year-old trees in the Avenues without harming them?
Restraint and clean technique. Old trees close wounds slowly, so we keep cuts small and few — deadwood out, clearance achieved by thinning at the ends rather than lopping big limbs, never more than the tree can seal before decay moves in. A century tree trimmed right looks barely touched and drops nothing on your car for years.
Serving all of Salt Lake City
Around Liberty Park, the Avenues and Sugar House — wherever your tree is in Salt Lake City, we can get to it.