Tree Cutting in Cincinnati, OH

No operation involving a public tree (a street tree or other tree on public property) may begin without an Urban Forestry permit from the director. There's no fee when the estimated cost of the work is $500 or less. Properties in the Urban Forestry Maintenance District pay a front-foot assessment that funds planting, pruning and removal of public trees along streets.

Silver maple: large and weak-wooded; frequent storm breakage Pin oak and red oak: common shade and street trees Sycamore: huge trees along creeks and valley floors

Clay soils over Kope Formation shale slide on steep slopes; tree removal, cutting the toe of a slope or loading its top can make it worse.

Southwest Ohio's ash have been dying for years; remaining dead ash are brittle and harder to remove safely.

Severe storms bring down limbs and uproot trees in saturated clay.

Steep lots, retaining walls and narrow streets with on-street parking make equipment access the main planning question. Many hillside removals are done by climbers and rigging because a lift or crane can't set up on the slope, and wood is carried up or down by hand. Older neighborhoods have alleys and overhead Duke Energy lines in the back.