Public Trees

To request service for trees located on public lands, including boulevards, parks, beach accesses, and road allowances:

If you wish to be contacted as a follow-up to your request, please leave your phone number.

Saanich Parks does not prune trees for BC Hydro or Telus wires:

BC Hydro wires clearance-pruning requests: 1-800-224-9376
Telus wires clearance-pruning requests: 611

Saanich’s urban forest is the sum total of all trees and their associated ecosystems within the municipality. Our aim is to protect and enhance the public trees within Saanich’s urban forest while providing a safe environment for all to enjoy. 

On average, the Urban Forestry section of Saanich Parks responds to more than 1,600 requests for public tree concerns every year. Read our Urban Forest Strategy [PDF - 38 MB] for full details.

Pruning Standards for Boulevard Trees

  • Crown clean by pruning dead, diseased, decayed, and weakly-attached branches that are 5cm or greater in diameter.
  • Provide 4.4m of height clearance over roads and driveway sections within the boulevard.
  • Provide up to 1m of clearance around house service wires.
  • Provide up to 2.5m of height clearance over sidewalks and boulevards.
  • Improve streetlight cast onto roadways by selective pruning below streetlight and providing up to 1m of clearance over the top of the streetlight.

Under the BOULEVARD REGULATION BYLAW Owners and Occupiers must:

  • ensure that any landscaping and native vegetation within the boulevard does not interfere with the passage of pedestrians, cyclists, or vehicles, and that sight lines to intersections, driveways, sidewalks, vehicle and bicycle travel lanes, and traffic control devices are maintained.
  • keep the boulevard free of brush, noxious weeds, invasive plants, litter, loose materials including leaves or debris, and in a tidy condition.
  • promptly remedy, by removal or other appropriate means, any landscaping or other material or condition, except for trees and native vegetation, within the boulevard that is, or is likely to be or become, a hazard to persons or property, or that is deemed to be a hazard in the opinion of the Director of Engineering.

For more information please read the Boulevard Regulation Bylaw.

Park Tree Pruning

Park trees are generally pruned during the dry season for safety reasons, mower height clearance, and to enhance their health and structure. Trees are not pruned near active nests during the raptor nesting season, which is generally from January 1 to September 31, as per the Federal Migratory Birds Convention Act & B.C. Wildlife Act.

A healthy urban forest has numerous benefits relating directly to policy outlined in the Sustainable Saanich OCP (2008). Urban forests play an important role in contributing to the environmental integrity and climate change resiliency of Saanich – they reduce our carbon footprint by sequestering carbon, filter air and water, protect our watersheds, create shade, provide habitat, and slow wind and stormwater.

Urban forests contribute to the social well-being of Saanich by providing healthy and enjoyable recreation opportunities, moderating local climate, shading homes and businesses to conserve energy, and are critical to mitigate the urban heat island effect. Urban forests contribute to the economic vibrancy of Saanich through increased property values and encouraging business on tree-lined streets.