Tree Maintenance

The City of Roanoke's Urban Forestry program maintains 12,000 street trees and 5,000 park trees. Highly trained forestry personnel manage and maintain Roanoke's trees for tree health, public safety and aesthetics. Professional foresters and Certified Arborists care for our trees. To learn more about arboriculture and how to become a Certified Arborist, visit the International Society of Arboriculture website.

Roanoke maintains public trees on a request basis, supplemented with staff observations and routine maintenance of newly planted trees. Call the forestry inspector at 540-853-5219 for tree work or tree planting permits. For emergency tree work after business hours, call 540-853-2000.

Proper tree pruning is important. Roanoke's forestry crews follow national pruning standards designed to protect tree health. Improper pruning techniques, such as tree topping and over-thinning, can injure trees.

Learn more about tree topping issues from the Virginia Urban Forestry Council website at Trees Virginia.