What the cities require along a street
If your lot borders a street, sidewalk or alley, the city has a say in how low your branches hang. The three nearby cities each put it differently.
| City | Rule for private trees along the street | Trees on city land |
|---|---|---|
| Lebanon | Owners bordering a right-of-way must prune trees and shrubs so they don't block street lights, street signs, or people and vehicles passing. The code gives no set height. (907.07) | A right-of-way permit from the Director of Service is needed for any work on a public tree. Topping a public tree is prohibited unless the Director approves it in advance. (907.03, 907.06) |
| Mason | Limbs over a sidewalk at least 5 feet above the walk; limbs over a street kept 14 feet above the pavement. (939.07(G)) | Pruning a tree on city property needs the City Manager's approval first, good for up to 60 days. |
| Springboro | Pruning standards apply to public trees and to trees the city designates as Monarch Trees. Climbing spurs aren't allowed on Monarch Trees. (280.07) | The Tree Authority oversees trees on city property and in rights-of-way. |
City codes as posted online, checked Nov 10, 2026. Mason's figures come from the 2013 revision of Chapter 939 on the city's site.
Lebanon's rule has teeth. Under 907.07, the city can also designate a tree or shrub along the right-of-way as dead, dying, diseased or hazardous and send the owner written notice. If the work isn't done within 30 days, the city or its contractor may do it and charge the owner all costs, including administrative charges (checked Nov 10, 2026).
Topping, and why the city bans it
Lebanon's code defines tree topping as "the severe cutting back of limbs to stubs of three inches or more in diameter" within a tree's crown, and it bars topping on any public tree unless the Director of Service approves it ahead of time (checked Nov 10, 2026). That's the city's rule for its own trees, not for yours. Still, if someone offers to "top" a yard tree to make it smaller, it's fair to ask how that cut differs from the one the city won't allow on its own street trees, and what the tree will look like in two or three years.
A trimming plan you can check afterward names the limbs to come off and why: dead wood, limbs over the roof, branches rubbing the gutters, low limbs over the drive. Ask for it in writing.
Limbs over the roof
Limbs that reach over a house are the riskiest to take off, because every piece has to come down without landing on shingles, gutters or a deck. The crew either ropes each piece down or cuts it short enough to toss clear. Ask which method they'll use, and who cleans the gutters after.
The trees doing the reaching vary. Mason's landscape code lists silver maple, box elder, willow, poplar and Siberian elm among the trees it won't accept as street trees, though the code doesn't give its reasons (checked Nov 10, 2026).
There's also an insurance angle. The Insurance Information Institute explained in 2010 that when a tree falls on a house, the homeowner's own policy pays first, whoever owned the tree, and that an insurer may go after the tree owner's insurer, sometimes when the tree was in poor health or poorly maintained. Keeping limbs off the roof is the cheaper side of that bargain.
Near power lines and the service wire
Utilities trim around their own lines, but not around all of them, and what they leave behind may surprise you.
City of Lebanon Electric
The city trims limbs away from its lines all year and says limbs touching its lines are "a common cause of power outages." On routine trimming, its crews take the wood and debris off the property unless you ask for the wood to be cut in 4-foot lengths and left for you. If trimming leaves a tree looking bad, the city will remove it on request. After storms, though, crews cut broken and uprooted trees only to get the power back on and leave the brush and wood on the property (checked Nov 10, 2026).
The service line, the wire from the pole to your house, is yours to keep clear. The city will temporarily cut power to it at no charge during normal business hours if you call (513) 228-3210 at least two business days ahead (checked Nov 10, 2026).
AES Ohio
AES Ohio trims to at least 10 feet from its lines. It places an automated call one to two weeks before working a circuit, and a planner may visit or leave a door hanger two to four weeks ahead. Debris under 4 inches is chipped; logs over 4 inches are cut and left at the base of the tree for the owner. Its line clearance crews won't trim near a service line, which is the owner's job (checked Nov 10, 2026). The line clearance team is at 888-582-3213 and calls back within three business days (checked Nov 10, 2026).
Duke Energy
Duke asks customers to call before pruning or removing trees near power lines, and to have customer service de-energize the line before any tree work near a service drop (checked Nov 10, 2026).
The Ohio Consumers' Counsel adds that utilities trim on private property under easements that transfer with the deed, that advance notice isn't required though it's often given, and that homeowners may have to arrange and pay for debris removal. Complaints go to the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio at 1-800-686-7826 (checked Nov 10, 2026).
Ash, Callery pear and the rest
- Ash. Dead limbs on an ash are a warning, not just untidiness. Ohio State's 2026 update on the emerald ash borer lists canopy dieback starting at the top among its signs, and says trees that were protected by treatment "could be at risk if treatment is discontinued." Trimming out dead wood removes what could fall, but it doesn't stop the beetle. See ash tree removal.
- Callery (Bradford) pear. An Ohio State University Extension newsletter from February 2023 calls out "the infamous weak branch structure of the Bradford cultivars." Ohio's invasive plant rule has barred selling, propagating or distributing Callery pear since January 7, 2023, though existing trees don't have to come out. A pear with tight, narrow forks is a candidate for thinning or for removal; see dead or leaning trees.
- Maples and oaks. Mason's recommended list for large street trees includes red maple, sugar maple, swamp white oak, red oak and Shumard oak (checked Nov 10, 2026).
When the brush can go out
If you want the city to take the branches instead of the crew, the calendar matters:
- Mason has no brush pickup in January, February or March. The rest of the year, crews take brush one quarter of the city per week, in pieces 4 to 12 feet long and no more than 4 inches thick, set out by 7 a.m. Monday. Leaf collection runs October 12 through December 11, 2026 (checked Nov 10, 2026).
- Springboro collects yard waste from April 1 to December 31, in bundles up to 4 feet long, 2 feet wide and 50 pounds (checked Nov 10, 2026).
- Lebanon takes yard waste with regular trash if it's bundled in 4-foot sections or bagged, and holds spring and fall drop-off days (checked Nov 10, 2026).
In Mason, a winter trim means the crew hauls or chips the brush, or it waits at your house until April. Put the plan in the price.
Published trimming prices
These figures are national, not from Lebanon or Mason contractors. Thumbtack's 2026 tree trimming guide, updated October 23, 2026, gives a national average of $402 to $1,158, with low-end jobs averaging $186 and high-end jobs $2,456 (checked Nov 10, 2026). It also prices trimming by tree height:
| Tree height | Typical range |
|---|---|
| 5–10 ft tall | $474 to $848 |
| 11–20 ft tall | $577 to $993 |
| 21–40 ft tall | $768 to $1,362 |
| Taller than 40 ft | $1,126 to $1,957 |
The same guide puts hourly rates at $60 to $80, wood chipping at an extra $50 to $100, log splitting at about $50 to $100 per tree, and emergency storm work at sometimes as high as $250 an hour (checked Nov 10, 2026). More on published prices. The contractor's written price for your trees is the one that counts.
Before the crew starts
- Which limbs come off, roughly how much of the crown, and why.
- Whether any branch belongs to a tree in the tree lawn, which would bring in the city.
- Who calls the utility about the service wire, and on what day.
- Whether climbing spurs will be used on a tree you're keeping. Springboro bars them on its Monarch Trees.
- Whether the brush is chipped, hauled, or cut to the city's curb lengths, and whether the wood stays.
- How the roof, gutters, deck and plantings will be protected.
Trimming questions
How high do branches need to be over the sidewalk in Mason?
At least 5 feet above the walk, and 14 feet above the street, under Section 939.07(G) of Mason's code as posted in its 2013 revision (checked Nov 10, 2026). Lebanon's code requires branches to clear street lights, signs and traffic without giving a number.
Will Lebanon Electric trim my tree?
It trims around its own lines all year and takes the wood away unless you ask for 4-foot lengths. The service wire to your house is your responsibility; the city will shut it off during normal business hours with two business days' notice at (513) 228-3210 (checked Nov 10, 2026).
Can I trim the city tree in front of my house?
Not on your own say-so. In Lebanon, work on a public tree needs a right-of-way permit from the Director of Service. In Mason, pruning a tree on city property needs the City Manager's approval (both checked Nov 10, 2026).
My neighbor's dead limbs hang over my roof. What can I do?
FOX19's 2016 explainer on trees that fall across property lines says your own insurer pays first if one hits your house, and that a neighbor is mainly liable when they knew the tree was a hazard. For a neighbor's dead tree, it suggests a letter with photos asking them to act.
Will trimming save an ash that's losing its top?
Cutting out dead limbs makes it safer for a while, but it doesn't treat the borer. Extension guidance says treatment works best early; once roughly 30% of the canopy is gone it becomes less effective, and past about half the canopy it's usually too late. (Ohio State, July 2026; Extension bulletin, April 2019; checked Nov 10, 2026.)
Trimming requests from this page land with one independent contractor working the Lebanon and Mason area. No one at this site climbs or cuts.
Sources
- City of Lebanon Codified Ordinances, Chapter 907: 907.01, 907.03, 907.06, 907.07. Checked Nov 10, 2026.
- City of Lebanon, line clearance and refuse and recycling. Checked Nov 10, 2026.
- City of Mason, Chapter 939 (revised Nov 18, 2013) and brush and leaf collection. Checked Nov 10, 2026.
- City of Springboro, 280.07, Tree Authority and trash and yard waste. Checked Nov 10, 2026.
- AES Ohio, what to expect; Duke Energy, trees and tree trimming practices; Ohio Consumers' Counsel, tree trimming. Checked Nov 10, 2026.
- Ohio State University, "Emerald Ash Borer Still Infesting Trees" (July 1, 2026); "The Ball Drops on Callery Pear in 2023!"; OSU Extension, Highland County newsletter (Feb 2023); Ohio Administrative Code 901:5-30-01; Herms and others, Insecticide Options for Protecting Ash Trees from Emerald Ash Borer (3rd ed., 2019).
- Insurance Information Institute, fallen tree insurance information (July 22, 2010); FOX19, "Tree falls over property line" (March 14, 2016).
- Thumbtack, 2026 Tree Trimming Cost Guide (updated Oct 23, 2026). National figures, checked Nov 10, 2026.