Tree Trimming and Removal in Wheaton

Tree Service In Wheaton, Where The City Draws The Line At The Curb

The City of Wheaton states plainly that it “does not regulate trees that are on private property,” and its website adds that under Illinois law, “ownership is determined by the location of the tree trunk.” The rules begin where the public way does. Chapter 78 of the City Code makes it unlawful to trim, remove or damage a tree in a street or right-of-way without a permit, and Sec. 78-14 sets fines of $100 to $1,000 for each offense, with each day and each affected tree able to count separately. So the first question on any tree service Wheaton job is a simple one: whose trunk is it?

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Chapter 78 And Wheaton’s Public-Way Trees

We read Chapter 78, Vegetation, Article I as replaced by Ordinance F-1739, passed December 2, 2013; later amendments could not be confirmed. Sec. 78-2 gives the city “the right to plant, prune, maintain and remove any and all plantings in public ways.” Sec. 78-4 sends permit applications for public-way trees to the Public Works Director, and Sec. 78-8 requires that director’s written permission before one is removed, cut or damaged. Sec. 78-7 limits street tree trimming to city employees, “those licensed tree care companies contracted by the City to perform such work, or a public utility.” The same section reads “No tree topping shall be allowed” and sets a 14-foot minimum for lower limbs on street trees.

The city’s web page describes a “No-Cost Planting and Removal Permit” for a parkway tree, approved by the Superintendent of Forestry “before any work is started.” Sec. 78-9 works in the other direction: a private tree or limb that overhangs the public way and is “dead, decaying or broken and likely to fall” may be determined a public hazard, and under Sec. 78-10 the city may do the work after 30 days’ notice and bill the owner, with an unpaid bill able to become a lien after 60 days. The city’s private-tree page also says owners must promptly remove ash infested with emerald ash borer and elms with Dutch elm disease, and that leaving them can bring fines. University of Illinois Extension covers both pests for homeowners.

Wheaton’s Canopy After The Ash

Ash once made up 6,500 trees — 28 percent of the city’s urban forest. All were infected and removed, and by fall 2021 only a few dozen remained. The Forestry Division now cares for more than 20,000 trees on a 7-year pruning cycle, with five ISA Certified Arborists on staff; maples account for 27 percent, honeylocusts 12 percent and oaks 7 percent. Sec. 78-6 bars Bradford pear, ash, maple, spruce, poplar and fruit-bearing trees, among others, from the public way, a list worth reading before you choose a replacement for your own yard. Wheaton marked its 39th consecutive year as a Tree City USA in 2024.

Wheaton is the DuPage County seat, a status that followed the 1868 “Midnight Raid” on the Naperville courthouse and was proclaimed after the 1871 Great Chicago Fire destroyed contested county records; the 1887 courthouse is on the National Register. Incorporated as a village in 1859 and as a city in 1890, it is home to Wheaton College and to Cantigny, the former Robert R. McCormick estate with its gardens and two museums.

Our Work In Wheaton

• Tree and bush removal — private trees, taken down without touching the city’s street tree beside them
• Trimming and pruning — no topping on your trees either; street trees stay with the city and its contractors
• Stump grinding — ground low enough to replant, ideally with something off the Sec. 78-6 list
• Storm response, 24 hours a day

Schedule A Tree Service Wheaton Estimate

Send a photo showing the trunk and the curb line, and we will tell you whether the tree is yours before any tree service Wheaton quote goes out. Call 708-424-5885 or look over the rest of our DuPage County service area. Neighboring work: Winfield, Glen Ellyn.