Bellflower, CA Landscaping Rules: Tree Trimming (2026)

Bellflower's Public Works Department, through its Street Trees Division, is responsible for preserving and protecting the community's urban forest and for landscape and tree trimming in the City's right-of-way. The City - not Los Angeles County - controls work on parkway trees. Bellflower Municipal Code Section 12.08.090 states that no person shall remove, alter, damage, repair or replace any highway, sidewalk, curb, gutter, driveway including apron, tree, landscape feature, City-installed irrigation system, or other such construction in the public right-of-way except with a permit issued by the Director of Public Works or the Director's designee. The City's encroachment chapter (Chapter 12.16) reinforces this: Section 12.16.030 makes it unlawful to place or permit to remain any structure or tree upon any public street, sidewalk, alley, or City property without a valid permit, and Section 12.16.010 requires that an encroachment involving landscape materials in the immediately adjacent parkway be in conformance with the City Council-adopted Parkway Landscape Design Guidelines and any license-agreement terms. Section 12.16.020 separately treats hedges and trees that interfere with use of the public right-of-way as nuisances. In short, a Bellflower resident cannot simply trim, prune, top, or cut into the parkway tree in front of their home; they must obtain a Public Works permit and follow the City's parkway guidelines. For private-yard trees, trimming is governed only by the nuisance code (e.g., keeping branches more than five feet from rooftops under Section 8.36.030).