Tree services in Montgomery County, PA: township tree rules and what to check
Updated · KeystoneProGuide editorial team
What should Montgomery County homeowners know before hiring a tree service?
That the trees along the street may not be yours to touch, even where they shade your yard. Montgomery County's townships and boroughs write their own tree rules, and Lower Merion Township's are a detailed example. They are set out below, with Census figures on the county's homes and the state checks that apply everywhere.
Who controls the trees along the street in Lower Merion?
The township does. Lower Merion's shade tree code gives its Shade Tree Commission exclusive custody and control of all shade trees on township property, and the power to plant, remove, maintain and protect shade trees on public streets. A tree counts as a township shade tree if more than half of its trunk diameter, measured at breast height, is within the right-of-way or on township land.
The township's Shade Tree Division says residents are prohibited from pruning or removing any township tree, and that its crews maintain approximately 70,000 trees along streets and in parks. Its code adds that, except in an immediate emergency, it is a violation to cut, climb with spurs, injure or remove a shade tree, interfere with its roots or spray it, and that each day a violation continues is a separate offense.
What if you want a street tree pruned or removed?
Ask the township first. The code says an owner who wants a right-of-way tree planted, pruned, sprayed or removed must make a written request to the Director of Public Works, and the Township Arborist will say whether the work can be done and whether there will be a charge. If the township cannot do the work, the owner may hire a contractor with the Township Arborist's permission, and the contractor must get a permit before starting. The Shade Tree Division strongly recommends using a certified arborist for any work on township trees, and says private contractors who remove township trees without a permit are liable to fines. If the Commission decides a tree does not need work, the resident may not prune or remove it.
Its phone number for a damaged or hazardous township tree is 610-726-7141.
Can Lower Merion order work on a tree in your yard?
Yes, in two cases. With four weeks' written notice, the Commission can require an owner to remove trees on private property that carry a disease threatening township shade trees, and healthy trees or bushes that are a public hazard, such as low limbs over the right-of-way. If the owner does not act, the township can have the work done, charge the owner and file a lien on the property for the cost.
What happens when a tree is tangled in the wires?
In Lower Merion's own work, the code says that when an electric wire has to be removed to take down or prune a shade tree, the Township Arborist arranges with PECO to cut off the power. For your own trees, PECO says it does not do non-emergency trimming around the service wire that runs to your meter, and will drop or de-energize that wire at no charge while a qualified contractor works, leaving the house without power until it is reconnected. PECO's own crews prune near its lines on cycles four years in length, and it says it does not top or round over live, healthy trees. Anything else about utility lines is in what Pennsylvania and its towns require.
What do the Census figures say about Montgomery County homes?
The Census Bureau's 2020-2024 estimates count 350,351 housing units in the county. Of these, 73.1 percent are single-family houses, detached or attached, a little below the state's 75.4 percent, and 26.1 percent are in buildings with several units. About 16.0 percent of the housing was first built in 1939 or earlier, against 25.0 percent statewide, and 8.1 percent has been built since 2010. Of 335,505 occupied homes, 71.4 percent are owner-occupied.
The share in multi-unit buildings matters for one practical reason. The Home Improvement Consumer Protection Act applies only to private residences, which the Attorney General's questions and answers define as single-family homes, buildings of no more than two units and single units in larger buildings such as condominiums. Tree work hired by the owner of a larger apartment building falls outside it.
How can you check a company, and where do you complain?
Start with the Attorney General's contractor search, which can be filtered to Montgomery County and includes "Tree services" among its types of work, though its type-of-work data is still limited. No county consumer office for Montgomery County was found for these guides. Complaints go to the Office of Attorney General, which says it receives more than 50,000 complaints and referrals a year. Insurance, credentials and the contract are covered in how to choose a tree service. Businesses serving the county are on the Montgomery County tree services page.
Sources
- Chapter 128: Shade Trees, Township of Lower Merion
- Shade Tree Division, Township of Lower Merion
- 2020-2024 ACS 5-Year Narrative Profile: Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, U.S. Census Bureau
- 2020-2024 ACS 5-Year Narrative Profile: Pennsylvania, U.S. Census Bureau
- Tree Trimming Assistance, PECO
- Routine Maintenance Improves Reliability, PECO
- Home Improvement Contractor Search, Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General
- Submit a Complaint, Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General
- Frequently Asked Questions: Home Improvement Contractor Registration, Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General