Tree Removal in Canton, OH

Tree removal in Canton is mostly about old trees on old lots. The city grew from about 26,000 people in 1890 to almost 105,000 by 1930 and peaked near 117,000 in 1950, so a large share of its neighborhoods were built and planted generations ago. The silver maples, oaks and ash that went in along those streets are now big, tired, and often standing a few feet from a house, a garage or an alley wire. Most of our calls come down to the same questions: is this tree still sound, what will it hit if it fails, and how does it come down in pieces on a lot where there is no room to drop it?

Why so many Canton trees are coming down now

Emerald ash borer was confirmed in Ohio in 2003 near Toledo, and the U.S. Forest Service reports infestations in all 88 counties since 2016. Ash was a common street and yard tree here, and many of the ones that were never treated are dead or dying. Dead ash dries out and gets brittle, which makes it harder to climb and less predictable to rig the longer it stands. Older silver maples are another steady source of work: they grow fast, form heavy limbs with weak unions, and decay inside long before the crown looks bad. Callery pears, including the Bradford pears planted in a lot of front yards, tend to split at their tight forks; Ohio stopped their sale and planting in January 2023, though existing trees do not have to be removed.

Weather that tests trees

Canton gets about 47 inches of snow and about 41.6 inches of total precipitation a year, measured at Akron-Canton Airport. Wet spring snow and freezing rain load branches before the leaves are out; summer thunderstorms hit when trees are in full leaf and catch the most wind. In one March windstorm, gusts reached 62 mph at the airport and roughly 17,000 Stark County electric customers lost power, with AEP Ohio outages concentrated in Canton, North Canton, Louisville and Nimishillen Township. A tree with old decay or a crack at a fork tends to be the one that goes in weather like that.

Canton's rules on tree-lawn trees

Canton's tree ordinance, Chapter 917, calls the grass strip between the sidewalk and the street the tree lawn or devil's strip. It makes the adjacent property owner responsible for removing dead trees and dead parts of trees there when they threaten the street or sidewalk, and for keeping branches pruned to at least 20 feet above the street and the sidewalk. When an entire tree is removed, the stump must come out and the ground be restored. If an owner does not act after 10 days' written notice, the city can do the work and bill it, and unpaid bills can become a lien on the property. The city can also order the removal of a private tree that is a hazard to life or city property, or that harbors insects or disease, with 30 days to comply. Topping city, park and other public trees is banned as a normal practice, and the penalty includes a $150 fine and replacing the tree with three new ones. Rules differ in North Canton, Massillon and the townships, so we check what applies to your address.

Get a Free Estimate

What an estimate covers

• The tree's species, lean, dead wood, cracks, cavities and decay at the base
• What is underneath: roof, garage, fence, car, the neighbor's yard
• Wires overhead and whether AEP Ohio or Ohio Edison needs to be involved first
• Access for a climber, a lift, a chipper or, for some trees, a crane
• Whether the tree is in the tree lawn and what that means for the job
• Wood, chips, brush and the stump: what stays and what leaves
• One written price per tree, with nothing added unless you agree to it

Canton is the center of our area, from Ridgewood's brick streets and the older blocks around downtown to the postwar neighborhoods on the city's edges. From there we work across Stark County: North Canton and Plain Township to the north, Louisville and Nimishillen Township to the east, Canton Township and Perry Township to the south and west, and Massillon, Jackson Township and Lake Township beyond them. The northern two-thirds of the county sits on glaciated plateau and the southern third is unglaciated hill country, so lots range from flat suburban yards to wooded creek slopes. Two different electric utilities serve the area, AEP Ohio around Canton and Ohio Edison in places like Massillon, Jackson Township and Alliance, and each city and township sets its own rules for trees along the road. Each area page covers what we found about that place.