Tree Removal in Buffalo, NY

Tree Removal in Buffalo starts with a question most suburbs never ask: whose tree is it? Under Chapter 467 of the City Code, a street tree is one planted in the public right-of-way, and that includes the grass strip between the sidewalk and the curb. Those trees belong to the city. The maple shading your porch from the tree lawn is not yours to cut, even if it drops limbs on your car. The silver maple in the backyard, the box elder growing out of the fence line, the spruce crowding the driveway: those are on your lot, and that is where we work.

What the city handles, and how to ask

The Bureau of Forestry maintains street trees and trees in parks and city-owned lots. Residents reach it through 311, by phone or online, to request an inspection, a removal or trimming, a planting, a root or sewer conflict, or a pest or disease concern. If a street tree looks dangerous, call 311 first and document it. The city also publishes a street tree inventory map and a block pruning map, so you can see whether your block is already on the schedule.

Residents are allowed to care for street trees in small ways. Section 467-3D lets a resident trim and prune with Forestry Office approval, but only with hand tools: no chainsaws, no motorized equipment and no ladders. Anything bigger is city work or permitted work. Damaging or removing a public tree without authorization can bring a fine of up to $1,500, up to 15 days in jail, or both, under Section 467-5.

Private trees on narrow lots

Buffalo was built out long before modern setbacks. Many homes sit a driveway's width from the neighbor, with a detached garage at the back and service wires crossing the yard. A tree in that setting rarely comes down in one piece. We take it apart from the top in sections, lower heavy wood on ropes so it lands where we planned, and keep it off roofs, fences and the neighbor's car. When there is no room to drop anything at all, a crane can lift pieces over the house to the street. We will tell you on the walk-through which method fits your yard and why.

Before we cut near the wire that runs from the pole to your house, that wire needs attention. National Grid, which serves the city, trims around its primary lines on a cycle, but the service drop to the house is the owner's responsibility. National Grid asks owners to call customer service at least five days ahead so the line can be temporarily disconnected or covered with rubber sleeves.

The storms that shaped the canopy

On October 12 and 13, 2006, the storm the Weather Service later documented in detail dropped 22.6 inches of snow at the airport and about 20 inches in North Buffalo onto trees still in full leaf. The city's own parks were hurt; Olmsted landscapes such as Delaware Park, roughly 350 acres, lost trees to that storm. Many of the backyard trees that survived carry the evidence today: old tear-outs, stubs where limbs broke, and decay that has had nearly two decades to work inward. Those are the trees we look at most carefully.

Emerald ash borer has added a second wave. Public broadcaster WBFO reported in 2016 that dying ash were being removed from Shoshone Park and city streets, decades after Dutch elm disease forced the removal of tens of thousands of city trees. Dead ash become brittle quickly, which changes how they have to be climbed and cut.

Getting rid of the wood

For small jobs you do yourself, the city collects branches bundled under 4 feet and under 50 pounds, and you can call 311 for pickup. A full removal produces far more than that, so our quotes include chipping the brush and hauling the trunk wood unless you want to keep some for firewood. Get a free estimate