Austin, TX Landscaping Rules: Tree Trimming (2026)

Section 6-3-23 of the Austin City Code has two subsections. Subsection (A) bars a person from placing, maintaining, or permitting a tree or plant to overgrow or obstruct a sidewalk to prevent public use of the area. Subsection (B) is the number that matters for pruning: tree limbs growing over a sidewalk must be trimmed to a minimum clearance of 14 feet above the street level, and that height is measured at the nearest curbline, not from the sidewalk surface itself.

The duty falls on the owner. Chapter 6-3 defines an owner as the record owner of real property, the occupant, or a person with the right to exercise control over the property, so a tenant who controls the yard is covered along with the landlord. The chapter defines a tree as a self-supporting woody perennial with a trunk diameter of at least three inches at four and one-half feet above grade (two inches if planted by or on behalf of the city), and it excludes bushes and shrubs. Subsection (A) still reaches shrubs, because it says tree or plant.

Enforcement runs through Sections 6-3-25 and 6-3-26. The urban forester, a city employee designated by the city manager, can send an owner a written notice of obstruction that describes the corrective action required and states that the work must be complete not later than the 10th day after receipt of the notice. If the owner does not comply, the urban forester can trim or remove a tree or plant over a street, an adjacent sidewalk, or a public easement to provide the 14-foot clearance, an unobstructed view for traffic, or removal of overgrowth. The city manager decides when a tree or plant needs trimming or removal.

Two neighboring rules sit in the same article. Section 6-3-21 limits plants at a street corner, within a ten-foot setback from the curbline and 40 feet along the curbline from the intersection, to no more than two feet taller than the surrounding ground. Section 6-3-22 bars any tree or plant within five feet of a fire hydrant. Trimming a tree on public property, such as a street tree in the right-of-way, is a separate matter: Section 6-3-71 requires approval from the urban forester, with an application filed at least five business days before work begins.