Forestry

The City's professional forestry staff maintains Eden Prairie's urban forest.

The team focuses on tree care programs and preservation, reforestation, infectious tree diseases and insects, noxious weed control and educational outreach.

The urban forest provides many benefits to Eden Prairie by providing shade, sequestering carbon, reducing storm water runoff, increasing home values, and reducing utility bills to heat and cool buildings and homes. Eden Prairie has over 50,000 trees in maintained spaces (lawns, gardens, etc.), most of which are located on private property. Eden Prairie parks have over 5,000 trees in the mowed turf conservation areas, and rights of way.

Invasive pests, pathogens and climate change are threatening the health of our trees. The City’s urban forestry program mitigates these threats by monitoring and managing current and potential invasive pest and pathogen infestations, and replanting public spaces with a variety of trees to increase tree diversity.

Forestry work is guided by the City's Urban Forestry Management Plan [PDF] and includes:

Identifying and removing diseased trees
Coordinating annual Arbor Day celebration and Park Clean-Up Day
Enforcing the City’s tall grass/weed ordinance
Enforcing state/county noxious weed requirements
Monitoring private native grass/flower plantings
Investigating, overseeing and resolving City/private boundary interface conflicts
Providing forestry and natural resources-related consultations
Managing the City’s conservation areas, which include oak savanna, remnant prairie, remnant “big woods” forests and the riparian zones along creek and river watersheds

Trees in City Street Right of Way

Right-of-way trees are owned by the property owner, however, vegetation and trees along City streets and in right of ways are routinely pruned by the Streets Maintenance Division.

The City manages these areas to maintain safe intersection sight lines, eliminate branches that interfere with vehicles on the road or pedestrians on trails/sidewalks, and remove vegetation that impedes the City’s ability to perform maintenance and operation of utilities.

City right-of-way maintenance includes:

Pruning to clear vegetation that blocks sight lines, interferes with traffic, or poses an immediate safety concern to the roadway, trail or sidewalk (not private property)
Winter pruning (between November and March) to ensure neighborhood streets are pruned on a roughly seven-year cycle
Removal of trees posing a risk to the road, including those with Dutch elm disease, oak wilt and emerald ash borer (EAB)

All other maintenance within the right of way is done at the property owner's expense, including:

Mowing the right of way adjacent to the property
Trimming any branches that impact private property and any other tree care
Submitting a request for approval to plant anything other than turf grass within the right of way