Tree Maintenance and Education
If you have a City-owned tree near your home, you may have seen some trimming going on and wondered why and what forestry experts look for in the way of a tree in need.
Dr. Yemi Adeyeye is the City of Windsor Forester and Manager of Forestry and Natural Areas.
“Windsor has a significant number of trees, and approximately 70 thousand are street trees,” says Dr. Adeyeye. “To keep trees in good shape and provide protection from falling limbs, we’ve created a preventative tree maintenance program. Under this program, we have a seven-year trimming cycle that means we’re proactively trimming back about 10 thousand trees each year.”
With so many trees, City crews also work with four certified tree care contractors who follow rigorous arboriculture (tree care) standards. These standards include removal of deadwoods, crossing limbs (up to four inches in diameter) and ensuring good, healthy branching structure in each tree’s canopy. The standards also call for specific clearance levels over roads, sidewalks, driveways and homes:
Clearance over curb 450 centimetres (14 to 15 feet)
Clearance over lawn 240 centimetres (8 feet)
Clearance over roofs 300 centimetres (10 feet)
Clearance over driveway 300 centimetres (10 feet)
Clearance around traffic signs 60 centimetres (2 feet)
Clearance around streetlight cables 60 centimetres (2 feet)
Clearance of streetlights for 45-degree angle light pattern
Note: The four-inch diameter is a guideline that may be exceeded to improve tree shape or meet minimum clearances.
In addition to the preventative seven-year tree-trimming program started in 2021, the City continues to respond to emergency and urgent requests for tree services as required.
If you have any questions regarding this program or other forestry related matters, please contact 311 or contact the Forestry Department at Forestry@citywindsor.ca by email.