Tree Service in Bethel Park, PA

Tree Service in Bethel Park often begins with a code letter. The borough's code enforcement page says property owners must keep trees and branches clear of roadways to a height of 14 feet, with 3 feet of clearance off the edge of the road, so school buses, emergency vehicles, plow trucks and garbage trucks can pass. Low limbs on a corner lot, or a row of spruce leaning over a narrow street, are the usual reason people call us.

A big borough on high ground

Bethel Park covers 11.7 square miles about 7 miles south of Pittsburgh, and had roughly 33,500 residents in 2020. It sits fairly high for the region: the average elevation is about 1,197 feet, with Rocky Ridge in the southwest reaching 1,370 feet and the lowest point at 980 feet where Piney Fork meets Alsip Run. Trees on the ridges catch more wind than those in the hollows, and we see more crown breakage on exposed lots after strong storms.

The borough grew quickly once the Pittsburgh Railways interurban lines reached it in the early 1900s, and its population climbed from 11,324 in 1950 to a peak of 34,758 in 1970. Much of the housing and the yard trees date from that postwar run. Silver maples, Norway maples and pin oaks planted in the 1950s and 60s are now big and, in many cases, past their best years.

Your neighbor's branches

The borough's FAQ gives a plain answer to a common question: you may trim branches from a neighbor's tree that hang over your property, up to the property line. What that answer doesn't cover is how much cutting a tree can take. Heavy one-sided pruning can unbalance a tree or open large wounds, so we usually suggest a talk with the neighbor first and cuts made at proper branch unions rather than straight down the line.

Under the ground

The old Pittsburgh Terminal No. 8 mine opened around 1920, and its underground workings mean the whole borough is undermined. That doesn't usually change how a tree is pruned, but it is one reason we look closely at any tree that has started to lean, since ground movement and root problems can look similar from the street.

Getting rid of brush

Bethel Park has held free yard waste drop-off days at the Public Works complex on Slater Road on the third Saturday of the month through September, taking leaves, brush and bundled branches in paper bags rather than plastic. For a full removal, our estimate states whether we chip and haul everything or leave wood for you.

Call (412) 789-1968 or use the form. If you got a clearance notice, send a photo of it with your request. Get a free estimate