Garland, TX Landscaping Rules: Tree Trimming (2026)

66 of Chapter 33 sets a minimum sight-line standard at every intersection in the City: no fence, wall, screen, sign, or foliage from a hedge, tree, bush, or shrub may block the view between three and nine feet above the average street grade. At a standard street-to-street corner the protected triangle is formed by extending the two curblines to their intersection and connecting points 45 feet out along each curbline; at a street-to-alley corner the triangle shrinks to 25 feet along each line. Where streets do not meet at right angles, the Director of Transportation can vary those 45- and 25-foot dimensions to guarantee at least 275 feet of sight distance measured along the curbline.

If a tree, hedge, or shrub in violation sits in the City's right-of-way, the Director of Transportation sends the property owner written notice, and the owner has 14 days to remove or trim it before the City removes the obstruction itself; the removed material becomes City property, though the owner can reclaim it, except plant material, within 30 days by paying the removal cost. 00, with each day the obstruction remains a separate offense. The section is not meant to force removal of trees or ornamental plantings that do not actually create a hazardous sight obstruction, so routine landscaping that stays clear of the three-to-nine-foot band is unaffected.