Menifee, CA Landscaping Rules: Tree Trimming (2026)

The City of Menifee Landscape Standards (Section 8, Engineering/Public Works Landscape Design and Maintenance) set the city's tree-care rules for development projects, public rights-of-way, and city-maintained landscape areas. Trees must be pruned for safety, appearance, sound structure, and good form by qualified tree-care personnel following International Society of Arboriculture and ANSI tree-care standards. Stub cuts and topping are not permitted, no more than 25 percent of a tree's foliage may be removed without city authorization, major pruning of deciduous trees must occur in the dormant season (November 15 to February 15), and trees must be pruned through maturity to keep vertical clearance for vehicles and pedestrians.

Under the city's Street Tree Program, front-yard street trees (three minimum per residential lot, with at least one in the right-of-way where space allows) must be maintained by the individual property owner or homeowners association, and work on trees in the public right-of-way requires an encroachment permit from Public Works/Engineering. 020 (Prohibited Public Nuisance Conditions) requires owners to keep vegetation from overhanging or obstructing public sidewalks, streets, alleys, and rights-of-way and to maintain vegetation so it is not a fire hazard or detriment to neighboring property. California Civil Code sections 833-834 govern boundary-line trees between private neighbors.