Ontario, CA Landscaping Rules: Tree Trimming (2026)

Ontario regulates parkway (street-frontage) trees in Title 7, Chapter 3 (Public Rights-of-Way) of the Municipal Code. Section 7-3.13 (Landscaping parkways) assigns the owner, occupant, or person in charge of the abutting property the duty to 'plant grass and/or groundcover, as well as to sufficiently water, trim, and otherwise maintain all vegetation within the abutting parkway, including trimming of trees to provide a minimum clearance of eight (8) feet from grade.' The City retains responsibility for divider-median parkways, for all major pruning or tree surgery, and for pruning parkway trees that cannot be pruned from the ground. The planting and removal of all trees within parkway areas is subject to a City permit and must conform to the Master Plan of Parkway Trees. Section 7-3.09 separately prohibits any person from removing, damaging, destroying, mutilating, defacing, relocating, altering, or injuring any tree or other cultivated vegetation within a public right-of-way, while expressly allowing the proper care and cultivation of landscaping materials, including minor pruning of trees. The City's Parks and Streets Maintenance Department performs City tree work and trimmed 17,276 trees in 2025; residents can request street tree trimming through the City's Report an Issue portal.