The parks and recreation department shall have charge, custody, and control of all trees growing in any boulevards and boulevard areas, along the public streets and avenues, park or public areas of the city. Boulevard areas that owners have not properly maintained that allows brush and other woody trees to grow may have responsibility for proper maintenance.

We currently have staffing to support a 20 year pruning cycle.  This means that we will visit and prune every boulevard tree once every 20 years.  High risk issues do come up, and these will be addressed prior to the 20 year rotation. 

A call does not have to be made for routine prune work, that work will be part of our regular pruning cycle. 

Once a call has been made, this is logged into the system and is being monitored until work is completed. Ongoing calls are not required.

Please contact Rochester Parks and Recreation at 507-328-2311. Please leave a detailed message with the concern, your name, and contact information.  We do have limited staff for call response and will contact you when possible if we need additional information.

Our goal is to have the stump ground the year following the tree removal, however there can be delays due to seasonal work or contract issuance.  This is done via contract work and the number of stumps that can be ground is limited by budget.

The notice has a description of the violation.  The most common reason for getting this notice is, vegetation originating from private property has grown into the public right of way, this includes brush or other woody vegetation not planned for the boulevard.  Sidewalks should be clear 8 foot from edge to edge.  Streets should have 14 foot clearance from edge to edge.  The boulevard space can only contain turf grass or approved boulevard tree unless a Natural Landscape Permit is in place. 

Information on this type of notice can be found on the Encroachment webpage.

Homeowners no longer pay a per panel price for repair.  Please see info on the new sidewalk improvement district policy.

We do not remove trees because they are near sidewalks that have been marked for replacement. Rather we address the root issue when the sidewalk panel is replaced. A combination of root manipulation and using a larger aggregate as a base for the new panel which helps discourage new root development beneath the new panel.  he cause of sidewalk panels being affected by roots is due to the lack of adequate grow space for the tree. We will offer to inspect the tree to make sure the tree is not a hazard

Yes, if the limb is over 2” in diameter, the city will clean up the limb. Limbs smaller then this will be considered homeowners responsibility as per RCO Sec. 9-4-2. - Owner's responsibility. Please call 507-328-2515 and give the specific location and description of the limb, your name, and phone number in case additional information is needed.

If the limb is blocking the street or sidewalk we will clear the street or sidewalk, but it is up to the owner of the tree to clean up the woody debris.

Please call 507-328-2311. The city will get the limb cleaned up and an accident report can be filled out. Please report damage to your insurance company.

The city strives to mark private property trees only if they are considered a hazard to the general public. This includes if the tree can fail and impact a street, sidewalk,  park, or major power line. If this is not the case please refer to your rights as a private property owner.

You will need to complete and submit a free planting permit found here. Only approved boulevard species can be planted in the public right of way, see list here.

The City of Rochester’s Forestry Division manages over 100,000 trees in public areas within the City. Part of our management strategy involves managing species biodiversity. Currently, we strive to follow the 10–20–30 rule. That means we want to ensure that trees of the same species never make up more than 10% of our total public trees, tree species from the same genus never make up more than 20% of our total public trees, and that tree species from the same family will never make up more than 30% of our total public trees. Currently Maple trees, which are all in the same Genus, account for over 22% of our inventory, this surpasses the 10-20-30 rule and is why we are limiting Maple tree plantings. Property owners are welcome to plant maple trees on private property.

You may have noticed that the City of Rochester is no longer planting certain species of trees that we have historically planted a lot of over the past 30 years. For example, we are limiting the planting of Maple trees and Crabapple trees in public spaces. We will continue to restrict over planting of the same species throughout the City. 

The City of Rochester’s Forestry Department manages over 100,000 trees in public areas within the City. Part of our management strategy involves managing species biodiversity. Currently, we strive to follow the 10–20–30 rule. That means we want to ensure that trees of the same species never make up more than 10% of our total public trees, tree species from the same genus never make up more than 20% of our total public trees, and that tree species from the same family will never make up more than 30% of our total public trees. Currently Maple trees, which are all in the same Genus, account for over 22% of our inventory, this surpasses the 10-20-30 rule and is why we are limiting Maple tree plantings.

 

In 2010, a canopy evaluation revealed that just one species of tree, Green Ash (Fraxinus pennsylvannica) made up over 15% of our total urban canopy.  In 2016, the Emerald Ash borer, an invasive beetle that feeds on Ash trees, was discovered in within City limits and has since decimated the Ash population throughout the city and surrounding areas. We have lost thousands of Ash trees in the past 5 years, spent countless hours on tree removals and replants, and will continue to lose more each year.  

The reason damage from the Emerald Ash Borer is so devastating in Rochester is because we had such a high concentration of Ash trees in our city. And that reason is why, moving forward, we are limiting the number of individual species, genus, or family of trees in our city. Just as Dutch Elm Disease was before Emerald Ash Borer, we don’t know what will be next. By having a diverse urban forest population, we can work towards being able to avoid the catastrophic losses of similar events in the past.  

By increasing the biodiversity of our public trees, we will improve the urban forest’s health and increase its sustainability.  

You will need a boulevard tree work permit. The tree care company will need to have an ISA certified Arborist on staff. Only ISA certified licensed tree care companies can perform work on public trees. The work this permit covers is at the cost of the homeowner. A list of tree care companies can be found here.

Access through the park is not guaranteed, you would need to submit a park disturbance permit. Anytime access is needed through a public park this permit will be required. There is a $50 nonrefundable fee associated with this permit.  The permit can be found here.

See the current list of licensed tree care companies here. Hiring licensed tree care companies ensures that the city has vetted each company has insurance to protect residents from liability claims. 

Violation notices are sent to the property owner as listed on the county records. If the address is incorrect, please contact the county and update the records. Contact Olmsted County Property Records at 507-328-7636. 

If herbaceous vegetation is to exceed 12” in height a natural landscape permit is required. Otherwise the vegetation could be subject to the tall grass and weed ordinance. Natural landscapes benefit our pollinators and are an asset to our community. Natural Landscape Permit can be found here. More Information on the Tall Grass and Weed ordinance see here.

Family Service Rochester provides lawn mowing and yard services for persons who are sixty+ years and for adults with disabilities. Persons registered with the service have lawns mowed generally every 7 - 10 days depending on growth. The service is provided by either local volunteers or vendors. The fee for service is based upon income. To register for lawn service contact Family Service Rochester at 507-287-2010.

Research has shown that tree roots can extend up to 5x the height a tree in any direction. This makes it hard to determine which trees roots are affecting your sewer pipe. Tree roots will not penetrate an intact sewer pipe, they take advantage of existing cracks or separations within the pipe where they find oxygen nutrients and water. The city will not remove boulevard trees that are suspected of infiltrating a sewer pipe.

We now offer a virtual training that will allow citizens to prune 2" and smaller limbs on the tree in front of their home that could be blocking a sidewalk.

Citizen Tree Pruning Class  

Why take the Tree Pruning Class?

With the certificate issued upon successful completion of this training, you will be allowed to prune limbs 2" and under on the public boulevard tree in front of your home.  This way, you will not have to wait for the Parks and Forestry Divisions pruning rotation for the trees on your boulevard to be pruned.