Tree Service in El Sereno, CA

El Sereno is a Los Angeles neighborhood, but it borders our own corner of the San Gabriel Valley, and tree service here has a lot in common with Monterey Park: hills, older houses and big trees on tight lots. The difference is the rulebook. Because El Sereno is inside the City of Los Angeles, LA's protected tree and street tree rules apply.

LA's protected natives

The Los Angeles Municipal Code, sections 46.00 through 46.06, protects native oaks (except scrub oak), Southern California black walnut, Western sycamore and California bay, plus the Mexican elderberry and toyon shrubs. They are protected once they measure 4 inches or more in cumulative diameter at 4.5 feet. Removal permits come from the Board of Public Works through StreetsLA's Urban Forestry Division. Many El Sereno yards have non-native trees that are not covered, but if a walnut or oak has seeded in on a slope, we will flag it.

Street trees need a permit to touch

Under LAMC 62.162 and 62.169, a permit from the Urban Forestry Division is needed before removing, trimming or root pruning any tree in the public right-of-way. That includes the tree in the parkway in front of your house. We do not cut street trees without that permit in hand.

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Working on slopes

El Sereno grew up on and around hills, with Rose Hill on its western edge, a hilltop Baird Park Tract subdivision and the area called Hillside Village. Ascot Hills Park is nearby. On sloped lots, a dropped piece of wood can roll into a wall, a car or a neighbor's yard. We plan removals on hillsides around rigging and controlled lowering, and we look at where the tree's roots hold the slope before suggesting a full removal.

Housing age

The median home in El Sereno was built in 1950, and about 35% of its roughly 12,300 housing units date to 1939 or earlier. Many subdivisions were built in Period Revival styles in the 1920s. Trees from that era can be massive, and their roots often run under old retaining walls and stairs.

What we do here

• Sectional removal on slopes and tight lots
• Clearance pruning over roofs and stairways
• Palm cleanup and tall palm removal
• Stump grinding where equipment can reach, and hand cutting where it cannot
• Arborist consultations for trees near walls and steep banks

Cleanup on hillside jobs

Debris on a slope does not stay where it lands. We clear brush and small wood as we go so it does not slide into drains, stairs or a neighbor's yard, and we leave walkways swept when we finish. On lots with long stairways, we account in the estimate for carrying wood by hand, so the price reflects the real work. If you want chips left to cover bare soil on a bank, tell us; a layer of mulch can help slow erosion on exposed ground.

Call (626) 594-4788 to schedule an El Sereno visit and a written estimate.