Urban Forestry and Landscape Services
Our Urban Forestry and Landscape Services section manages the urban forest of Pinellas County. The section is made up of two teams:
- Urban Forestry manages and maintains trees that are located on, or extend over, county property, right-of-ways, county parks, and the Pinellas Trail
- Landscape Services manages and maintains turf grass and other vegetation along county right-of-ways and medians.
By sustaining and enhancing the health, appearance, and function of our county’s natural environment, we improve everyone’s quality of life and help make Pinellas County an attractive place to live, work and visit.
- For general information or questions, call (727) 464-8900 or email us at urbanforestry@pinellas.gov.
- For immediate assistance or emergencies, call (727) 464-8900.
What We Do
Our staff is comprised of expert arborists and grounds maintenance professionals. We work in partnership with multiple county departments, programs, contractors and community organizations to maintain and improve our urban forest in a responsible, sustainable way.
Our responsibilities include:
- Turf and grounds maintenance
- Tree maintenance, including pruning and removal
- Tree planting
- Public tree and right-of-way site inspections
- County development and plan review
- Appraisal of damaged public trees
- Urban ecosystem planning
- Public education and outreach
- Tree-related emergency response
Proper maintenance of our urban forest and turf areas improves the economic and environmental benefits of trees and green spaces such as cleaner air, wildlife habitat, stormwater filtration and retention, improved mental health, energy conservation, and increased property values. In addition, our routine maintenance provides the safe and efficient usage of public roads and green spaces.
Where We Work
Urban Forestry and Landscape Services works in the unincorporated areas of Pinellas County. These areas include:
- County maintained roads and rights-of-way
- County maintained stormwater drain banks
- County properties, including County parks
- County numbered roads and rights-of-way through incorporated municipalities
Managing County-Owned Trees
We maintain county-owned trees for health, safety, and appropriate clearances. We prune trees to meet Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) clearance guidelines of 13.5 feet over roads and 10 feet over sidewalks, using the industry-accepted ANSI A300 Part 1 Pruning Standard.
We will assess and remove county-owned trees that we determine to be a hazard due to health or structural defects. Property owners are responsible for maintaining all trees located on private property or branches of county-owned trees extending over private property. Property owners are allowed to maintain branches from county-owned trees extending over their property , as long as all services are performed professionally and are not detrimental to the health of the tree. We do not maintain trees and vegetation located on un-opened county easements and rights-of-way.
