Johns Creek, GA Landscaping Rules: Tree Trimming (2026)

The City of Johns Creek regulates trees primarily through its Tree Preservation Ordinance and Administrative Guidelines (Chapter 109, Article VII of the Code of Ordinances). Routine pruning or trimming of healthy trees on a developed, residentially zoned single-family lot is generally not the subject of a permit; the ordinance is structured around preservation, removal, and land disturbance rather than ordinary maintenance pruning. However, the guidelines make clear that "it shall be unlawful to remove a specimen tree without the express written permission of the City Arborist or authorized agent(s)," and severe cutting that effectively kills or destroys a protected tree can be treated as a removal. Work within a "protected zone" — which the ordinance describes as including state water buffers, tributary and zoning buffers, wetlands, landscape strips, and tree save areas — is restricted, and "land disturbance and/or tree removal within state water, tributary, or zoning buffer(s)" is listed as a violation that may trigger an immediate stop-work order. The city also notes that property owners are not allowed to remove or alter trees outside their own property, such as in the public right-of-way or on a neighbor's land. For trees in the right-of-way, removal is handled by or on behalf of the governing authority, not private owners.