How to Get Boston to Plant a Street Tree Out Front

The City of Boston plants street trees twice a year, and the fall round runs October through December. If the sidewalk in front of your house has room, you can ask for one.

What the city plants and where

Boston’s Urban Forestry Division maintains an inventory of almost 40,000 street trees. It plants in the spring, from April through June, and in the fall, from October through December. When a street tree is removed, the city says a New Tree Request is created automatically and it does its best to replant in the next planting season. Where there’s no tree pit, the city’s policy is to have the abutting property owner make the request before it cuts a new pit in the sidewalk. The request page says an owner or resident can make it.

How to ask

Create a New Tree Request case with 311, by app, by phone or online, or call the Urban Forestry Division directly. You can ask for a specific species. The city then sends an arborist to inspect the site. If it’s approved, the request page says the tree will be planted within a year of the case being created, in the spring or in the limited fall planting.

The site rules

The tree has to be 10 feet from any light pole, driveway or hydrant, and 10 to 20 feet from an intersection depending on the direction of traffic. The sidewalk has to be six feet wide, not counting the curb. The tree pit should be at least 24 square feet, preferably four feet by six. The species has to fit the neighborhood with room to grow, the tree can’t interfere with power lines, and the planting can’t sit in front of a building entrance. The city plants only from its own list of species.

Who takes care of it

Street trees in the public right of way belong to the city. Its planting contractor warranties new trees and provides basic maintenance for two years, filling the watering bags every two weeks in warm weather. The city welcomes residents who want to water, and says it isn’t expected of them.

Before you buy a house with a street tree

Street trees are public shade trees under M.G.L. c. 87. Under § 3 of that chapter, nobody but the tree warden or a permit holder may cut or trim one, even the owner of the land it stands on, and taking one down requires a public hearing with notice posted on the tree at least seven days before. The exceptions sit in § 5 of the chapter: the tree warden may act without a hearing on bushes and trees under an inch and a half in diameter, and on trees the mayor or similar officers order cut because they obstruct or endanger travel, and nothing in the chapter prevents removing a tree that endangers travelers, removing one for road widening, or suppressing pests. The city’s page says it can’t remove a living, healthy street tree even when it’s lifting the sidewalk. If you’re buying in Boston this fall and want to know what the city will do for the block, ask me. Diana Kim, REALTOR®, eXp Realty.