Tree Trimming & Pruning in Michigan

Michigan doesn't license or permit removals of private trees at the state level; cities and townships set any rules, usually only for street trees. Detroit: residents can apply to the city's Dead, Dangerous and Diseased Tree Program, under which an inspector checks a private-property tree and the city may schedule a contractor to trim or remove it if it qualifies.

Red and pin oak: oak wilt risk; prune in winter Ash: mostly lost to emerald ash borer; leftover dead ash are brittle Silver and Norway maple: common older trees; storm breakage

Winter: Best time for oak pruning and many removals; ice storm risk April–July: Avoid wounding oaks (oak wilt)

Freezing rain coats limbs and brings them onto wires and roofs.

Common in the Lower Peninsula's red oaks, which can die within a single summer; infected oaks also pass it to neighbors through grafted roots.

First found in the U.S. near Detroit in 2002; dead ash remain a hazard years later.