Elements of the Midway Tree Care Program

Most trees benefit from professional tree care services that improve their chances for a long, healthy life. When funding is available, the HMC Tree Care program will help income-burdened residents obtain care for their private property trees by connecting them to expert pruning and tree care resources. Sometimes tree care means removal. Midway properties also have dead or dying trees that need to be cleared out because of emerald ash borer, disease or structural reasons. Therefore, the Midway Tree Care Programs supports both tree pruning and tree removals when funding allows.

Note: HMC is not able to provide emergency tree care. In the event of storm damage or downed branches, please call 911 if there is a threat to life or safety. If you have had property damage related to your trees, you should contact your homeowner’s insurance company. The City of Saint Paul Forestry Department also has information about tree care, and can provide a list of licensed tree care companies.

Some program criteria:

• Services requested must be for a Hamline Midway property (map lookup)
• Services will be prioritized for elderly and low-income neighbors
• Any participants that receive a removal must accept a replacement; the Midway Tree Care Program will help you site and plant on the property.
• NOT eligible for the Midway Tree Care program are boulevard trees, trees on other public property or trees at places of business. 
• The program will not accept requests for removals of shade trees that are in recoverable condition or requests that are based on appearance, land-use, “messiness” or other personal preferences of the property owner. 

The number of trees we can remove or prune is very limited, but HMC continues to seek sponsorship to add to this number. As funding is secured, more applications for tree care will be accepted. Funding ideas can be sent to trees@hamlinemidway.org.

How to apply:

This program takes requests on a rolling basis and twice annually, we review applications and prioritize the tree work. It takes about 6 months to have tree care potentially happen on your site after your application is submitted to accomplish all of the needed reviews, competitive bidding and final scheduling. The timing could be longer if we need to wait for restricted activities to be allowed (ie oak trimming must avoid the Oak Wilt season). Fill out this form to get in the queue. We typically have more requests than we can accommodate, and will roll applicants into the next cycle when that happens.

Click here for the Tree Care Form. (live when we have funding available)