Iowa City, IA Landscaping Rules: Tree Trimming (2026)

Tree-trimming responsibility in Iowa City is split among the City Forestry Division, abutting property owners, and franchised utilities. The Forestry Division within the Parks and Recreation Department, which employs five ISA-certified arborists, prunes all city-owned trees (those in parks and in the public right-of-way — the 'parking' strip between sidewalk and curb) according to International Society of Arboriculture standards, at no cost to the adjacent property owner. Pruning requests are made at 319-356-5100. Iowa Code §364.12(2)(c) (https://www.legis.iowa.gov/docs/code/364.12.pdf) authorizes cities to require abutting property owners to maintain parking-strip vegetation by ordinance, but the same subsection specifically provides that 'the property owner shall not be required to remove diseased trees or dead wood on the publicly owned property or right-of-way.' Utility company tree-trimming is governed by Iowa City Code 16-2A-8 (Tree Trimming), which requires a franchised company or system to submit an annual trimming schedule to the City Forester by December 1 each year covering proposed trimming and cutting in residential street and alley areas, and limits the utility's authority to trimming sufficient to clear and prevent interference with above-ground transmission or distribution lines. Emergency trimming outside the schedule must be reported to the City Forester within seven calendar days. Section 10-8-4 (Felling Trees in Public Places) requires trees or branches felled or trimmed onto public places to be removed as directed by the City Manager. Iowa common-law self-help allows a property owner to trim a neighbor's branches up to the property line provided the cut does not harm the tree.