Bowling Green, KY Landscaping Rules: Tree Trimming (2026)

Sec. 26-6, Tree Topping, makes it unlawful for anyone to top a public tree, defining topping under the ANSI A300 (Part 1)-2001 Pruning standard as reducing a tree's size with heading cuts that shorten limbs back to a predetermined crown limit, and warning that topping, also called heading, tipping, hat-racking, shaping or rounding over, is not an acceptable practice because it harms tree health and can cause decay, rapid re-growth and hazardous limbs; crown reduction and restoration pruning done to ANSI A300 standards remain allowed.

Sec. 26-7, Vegetation Maintenance, applies the clearance rule this target is built on: any vegetation, including public trees, that a lot owner or occupant lets grow in a way that interferes with sidewalk or street traffic, or that blocks sightlines on a public right-of-way, must be pruned back, and trees that grow over a public right-of-way must be maintained so their lowest limb sits no less than fifteen feet above it, with all pruning of a public tree following the ANSI A300 (Part 1)-2001 standard.

Sec. 26-2 extends this authority beyond the right-of-way to any private tree or shrub that constitutes a hazard or threat. If an owner will not correct an overgrown or hazardous tree after notice, Sec. 26-7(c) lets the City or its agent alter or remove the vegetation itself, and Sec. 26-8 requires anyone removing a public tree to also remove the stump, refill the hole, reseed the area and finish the work without property damage or public danger. Sec. 26-11 sets the price of getting it wrong: the violator owes the tree's replacement value under the latest ISA landscape tree valuation guide, plus a civil fine of $250 for a first offense, $500 for a second, or $750 for others if uncontested, rising to $500, $1,000 or $1,500 if the citation is contested and heard by the Board.