Circuit Tree Maintenance

Arlington County maintains 19,500 public street trees County-wide-- many of which line neighborhood streets. The Circuit Tree Maintenance Program maintains these trees on a 5-year cycle. Maintenance may include pruning, treatment of harmful pests and diseases, and/or removal.

View which trees are scheduled for maintenance on our Tree Maintenance Map

Tree Issues Addressed

1. Removing dead, broken, overextended, or diseased branches larger than 4 inches in diameter and trees that pose an unacceptable risk to people, vehicles, or structures.
2. Providing a vertical clearance of 7 ft. over sidewalks, 10 ft. over most streets and parking spaces, and 16 ft. over arterial streets, depending on situation.
3. Maintaining visual clearance of critical infrastructure such as stop signs and traffic signals.
4. Pruning limbs within 5 ft. of buildings. Trees may be pruned up to 10 ft. away, depending on situation.
5. Pruning young trees for improved long-term stability and health.
6. Removing downed limbs and trees, outside of natural areas.

What to Expect?

• No-parking signs will be installed where needed in advance for the anticipated duration of tree maintenance.
• Maintenance typically lasts a couple of days, depending on the work involved
• Arlington County will contact the Civic Association to inform them of the upcoming maintenance activity.
• Bilingual (English/Spanish) informational signs will be installed at major entrances to the neighborhood.

Will trees be removed as part of this program?

Occasionally, trees will be found to be dead, declining, or pose an unacceptable risk to people, vehicles, or structures. These trees may be scheduled for removal as part of this program.

Will trees be replanted?

If the site is appropriate for planting, a tree may be replanted, according to the tree planting schedule. To learn more about our tree planting program, see: planting trees on public property.

What trees are not maintained?

• Trees entirely on state or federal right-of-way. See which roads are maintained by those entities on the Arlington Roads Belonging to State/Federal Government Map
• Trees entirely on private property. Find property lines on ACMaps
• Trees maintained through a special use permit condition, such as a 4.1 Site Plan. Find Site Plans on ACMaps. If you are unsure whether a tree is maintained through a site plan, contact urbanforestry@arlingtonva.us 

Sequence Map

County staff or contractors will work neighborhood by neighborhood. Click on the map below to see which neighborhood is currently in progress, what's been done, and what's up next. Neighborhoods are numbered in the order that tree maintenance will occur:

(JPG, 122KB)

Contact urbanforestry@arlingtonva.us with questions about this program. If you have an immediate tree risk issue that needs to be assessed, please use the Report a Problem tool.