On a narrow lot the trunk stands out by the curb, well clear of the porch. The crown is another matter. By late October its leaves are lying in the porch-roof gutter and the main run above it.
Who owns the tree on the tree lawn in Lakewood?
The city does. Lakewood’s tree lawns are part of the public right-of-way, which the city owns, and the city’s Division of Forestry is the only one allowed to plant there. A tree on the house side of the sidewalk belongs to whoever owns the lot. Most front gutters here sit under one of each, and gutter cleaning in Lakewood is the job that comes with living under either.
The city’s forestry crew maintains every tree on public property, tree lawns and parks included, and takes down the ones that are dead, diseased or a danger. About a third of the city’s ground is under canopy, and the city is planting more.
Who trims a tree-lawn tree that reaches my roof?
The city’s forestry team. It looks after every tree on public property, tree lawns included, and its crew of arborists does the trimming. So when branches hang over your roof or rest on the gutter, the first message goes to the city, not to a saw. The Division of Streets and Forestry takes those questions at streets@lakewoodoh.gov, and its phone number is on the city’s Streets and Forestry page.
The same goes for a tree service you already use on the backyard trees. The street tree is the city’s to decide on, so ask the city first.
Ask about the branches over the house, not about taking the tree down. The city’s own tree page says healthy large trees are not cut down and that pruning is used wherever possible to keep a tree standing and safe. Give the address, say which branches reach the roof or the gutter, and mention it if one is rubbing the roof edge in the wind. Send it well before the next leaf drop, not the week it starts.
What if the tree over my gutter is the neighbor’s?
It is the neighbor’s tree, and the conversation starts with the neighbor. Any cutting that comes out of it is between them and a tree service. The gutter crew cleans out whatever landed in your gutter, from whichever lot it blew off.
Does trimming branches back from the roof mean fewer gutter cleanings?
Somewhat, and less than most people hope. Getting branches off the roof edge stops what falls straight down: twigs, bark, the seed from the limb right overhead, and the branch tip that scrapes the gutter lip in a storm. Leaves travel. They come off every tree on the block on the wind, so a trimmed house on a full street still fills every fall, and twice a year stays the rule for most houses here.
Where trimming does show is in the small stuff. A gutter with a limb directly over it collects sticks that lie across the trough and catch everything behind them, and that is the material that turns a light fall into a plugged downspout. With the roof edge clear, the cleaning comes out lighter, and the spring one is often quick.
The visits stay on the calendar either way. What each kind of street tree drops, and when, is worked through in which tree is over your roof. A cleaning on a two-story colonial runs $170 to $250, and the rest of what a cleaning costs by house is on the cost page.
What does a gutter crew do about branches touching the gutter?
They look, and they tell you. A crew that is up on the ladder anyway:
- points out any branch resting on the gutter or rubbing the roof edge, so you know what to put in the request to the city
- checks for a run that a limb has bent or pulled off its hangers; a limb that bent a run is a repair, priced on its own before anyone touches it
- leaves every tree alone, city or private. Nobody on the crew cuts or ties back a branch
The cleaning itself is the same as any other visit, scooped by hand and bagged on the tree lawn. If the limb came down in a storm, whether insurance covers the gutter is its own question.
Is a gutter guard worth it under a tree you cannot cut?
Often, yes. When the tree is the city’s, the gutter is the one part of the problem that is yours to change. A well-fastened guard keeps the leaves and most of the seed on top, where they dry and blow off, so a house under a big street maple goes from a cleaning every spring and fall to an occasional check and brush-off. It does not take the visits to zero.
Whether the house is a good candidate, and which guard holds up to a Lakewood maple, is covered on the page for gutter guard installation. The gutters get cleaned and pitched first, so the guard goes on over a trough that drains.
Will the city plant a tree in front of my house?
You can ask for one. The city’s Division of Forestry plants every tree-lawn tree, and a resident can request a planting in their own tree lawn by emailing streets@lakewoodoh.gov or calling the Division of Streets and Forestry. The city’s stated aim is to plant the largest tree that suits each spot.
For the gutters, a young street tree is light work for years. It drops a handful of leaves and the gutter barely notices. Once its crown reaches the eave, the house is on the same twice-a-year schedule as the rest of the block.