Lowell, MA Landscaping Rules: Tree Trimming (2026)

Tree trimming in Lowell is governed primarily by Massachusetts state law, which preempts how public shade trees are handled. Under MGL Chapter 87, Section 3, public shade trees (trees in or on the borders of a public way) cannot be cut, trimmed, or removed by any person other than the city tree warden or a deputy, even by the owner of the land on which the tree stands, except upon a written permit from the tree warden; removal also requires a posted, published public hearing with at least seven days' notice. For private trees, the City of Lowell Code section 227-3(L) (Overgrowth) makes it unlawful to allow any hedge, shrub, tree, or other vegetation whose limbs overhang or protrude into a street, sidewalk, or public alley so as to impede safe movement, or, for trees, to allow dead limbs likely to fall across a street or sidewalk; such conditions are declared a public nuisance. Routine trimming of a private tree that stays on private property and does not affect a public way is generally unregulated, but any work touching a tree in the public right-of-way must go through the tree warden under c. 87.