Tree Removal in St. John, Indiana
Pro Tree Service has worked across Lake County since 1989. St. John is unusual among its neighbours in one respect that matters a great deal if you have a dead tree in your yard: the Town Code reaches onto private property. Most Indiana towns regulate only parkway and public trees and leave private ones entirely to the owner. St. John does not, and homeowners here are often surprised to learn it. If you are arranging tree removal in St. John, that is the first thing worth understanding.
The 60-Day Notice on Private Trees
St. John Town Code section 2-95 covers dead or diseased tree removal on private property. The Town’s Tree Board may recommend removal of any dead or diseased tree on private property where it constitutes a hazard to life and property, or harbours insects or disease that threaten other trees in the Town. Before that recommendation goes to the Town Council, the Tree Board must notify the owner in writing, and the notice states that removal of both tree and stump is to be done at the owner’s expense within sixty days of the owner receiving it.
The part worth reading twice is what happens if the deadline passes. Under the same section, the Town then has the authority to remove the tree itself and charge the cost back to the property owner. You lose the ability to choose your contractor, to get competing quotes, or to schedule the work around anything else happening on your property — and you still pay. Sixty days sounds generous until you have gathered estimates and waited for a crew, particularly in autumn when everyone in the county is booking at once.
If you have a notice with a date on it, tell us when you call. We schedule against the deadline rather than the queue, and we will confirm in writing that the stump was ground so you have something to show the Town.
Whose Tree Is It?
| Where the trunk is | What applies |
|---|---|
| Your yard, healthy tree | Yours to manage. No Indiana state permit, and no town permit for routine work. |
| Your yard, dead or diseased and hazardous | The Tree Board can require removal of tree and stump within 60 days of written notice, and the Town may remove and bill you if the deadline passes. |
| Parkway or street right of way | Town jurisdiction. Street trees in the Town Center district are maintained by the Town. |
| Straddling a boundary | Under Indiana law ownership follows the trunk — whichever lot it stands on owns the tree. |
| Being cleared for development | Landscape plans must preserve at least 70 percent of trees nine inches or larger in greenbelts, planting strips and perimeter buffers. |
A Young Canopy on Old Farmland
St. John grew from roughly 15,000 people to over 20,000 between the 2010 and 2020 censuses, and most of that went onto former farmland. The result is a tree population unlike anywhere else in the county: thousands of subdivision trees planted in the last fifteen to twenty years, scattered among the far older trees that were there when it was all fields — fencerow oaks, farmstead maples, hedgerow remnants now sitting in back yards.
Those two groups need opposite things. Young subdivision trees need structural pruning early, while a bad branch angle can still be corrected with a cut you can make from the ground. Left alone for twenty years, the same defect becomes a co-dominant stem and a five-figure problem. The old farmstead trees need honest assessment instead — many were open-grown in a field, developed wide low limbs accordingly, and are now standing next to a house that was not there when they put those limbs out.
Dead Ash and the Notice
Emerald ash borer reached all 92 Indiana counties, and untreated ash in Lake County is long gone. In most towns a standing dead ash is a safety question you can put off. In St. John it can become a deadline. Dead ash is also the most dangerous removal we do — the wood goes brittle as it dries and limbs release without the warning a living tree gives you, which is why Indiana DNR and Purdue Extension both advise against homeowners attempting it.
If you have a grey trunk shedding bark in plates with woodpecker damage up the stem, treatment is no longer an option and the tree is past the point where waiting saves money. It gets more expensive every season, because a brittle ash has to be rigged down rather than climbed.
NIPSCO Lines and What They May Do
Utility trimming in Indiana is governed by the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission, not by the utility’s own preference. NIPSCO must give at least two weeks notice before trimming near your property, and may not remove more than twenty-five percent of your tree or top it without your permission, except in an emergency or where safe and reliable service cannot otherwise be maintained. A limb actually touching a service line is their call — stay clear of it and phone them. Everything short of the line is ours.
Tree Services We Provide in St. John
- Tree and bush removal, including work scheduled against a Town notice deadline
- Stump grinding, four to eight inches below grade — deeper if you intend to replant
- Tree trimming and pruning to ANSI A300 standards, including structural pruning of young subdivision trees
- Canopy elevation and canopy thinning
- Assessment of mature farmstead trees near newer homes
- Dead and hazardous ash removal
- Emergency storm response, seven days a week
Where We Work
We cover all of St. John, and the neighbouring communities of Schererville, Highland and Crown Point, along with the rest of Lake County.
Get a Free Estimate
Tell us the address and what you are looking at. An ISA Certified Arborist comes out, gives you a written price, and tells you honestly whether the tree can be saved instead of removed. Estimates are free, any day of the week.
Call 708-424-5885 or request an estimate online. For a tree on a structure or a vehicle, call rather than filling in a form.
Source and Public Record
The ordinance described on this page is Section 2-95, Dead or Diseased Tree Removal on Private Property, adopted by Ordinance No. 1614, Section 5, on 27 August 2015. It sits within Chapter 2, Article V, Division 2 (Tree Board) of the Town Code.
The full Town Code is published for public review at stjohn.town.codes, and the section itself can be read in full at Section 2-95. We encourage anyone who has received a notice, or who wants to verify anything stated above, to read the ordinance directly rather than take our summary for it.
The Clerk-Treasurer’s office holds the official version of the Town Code and is the authority for any ordinance passed since the most recent codification. The Town of St. John can be reached at stjohnin.gov or (219) 365-6465. Nothing on this page is legal advice, and requirements can change.