Tree Service in Mt. Lebanon, PA

Tree Service in Mt. Lebanon usually means working around homes from the township's first building boom. Streetcar service from Pittsburgh began in 1901, the Liberty Tubes opened in 1924, and the population went from 2,258 in 1920 to 13,403 by 1930. Much of the township is now the Mt. Lebanon Historic District, with 3,341 contributing buildings, mostly homes built between 1874 and about 1945. The oaks, maples and sycamores planted with those houses are now large, close to slate and tile roofs, and often share a lot line with the neighbor.

The tree by the curb may not be yours

Mt. Lebanon's Public Works forestry division maintains the trees along municipal streets and on public land, and the township lists more than 10,000 street trees. Most trees in the street right-of-way are municipal. The township says that right-of-way is commonly 50 feet wide, so its edge sits about 25 feet from the center of the street. On many blocks that puts the line well into what feels like your front lawn.

That matters before any cutting. A homeowner may hire a professional tree service to prune a municipal tree, but the owner or the tree service has to get a tree trimming permit from the Public Works office first. There is no charge for it, and the work has to follow the township's pruning standards. Removing a municipal tree needs Public Works' consent, and the township replaces removed trees unless there is a utility conflict, a sight problem or not enough room. Trees on rear easements, utility rights-of-way and paper streets are private, and so are trees the township didn't plant.

A three-person crew for a whole township

In 2025 the township's magazine reported that Public Works handles all of those street trees with a three-person forestry crew, and that the Commission approved a contract of up to $115,000 with Davey Resource Group to review how the street trees are managed. In practice, that means owners often want their own trees, and sometimes the permitted pruning on a municipal tree, handled on their own schedule.

Oaks get pruned in winter here

The township's forestry page advises pruning oaks only when they are dormant to cut the risk of oak wilt, and notes that oaks may need pruning only every several years while faster maples need it more often. We follow the same timing: oak work goes on the winter calendar, and maples and sycamores can be done most of the year.

Common Mt. Lebanon requests

• Raising and thinning canopies over driveways on narrow lots
• Deadwood removal over roofs, porches and detached garages
• Removal of declining ash and storm-damaged maples
• Stump grinding where a front-yard tree has to come out
• Help sorting out whether a tree is municipal before work is booked

Call (412) 789-1968 or send the form. If you think a tree might be in the right-of-way, mention it and we will check before we quote. Get a free estimate