Cuyahoga Falls trees are too close to too many houses

Older neighborhoods close to the river

The neighborhoods around Front Street, State Road and the north end of town were built close together, and many of their shade trees are now as large as they'll get. Silver maples and oaks planted in the middle of the last century hang over roofs, driveways and the street, and their roots have spent decades working under sidewalks and old sewer laterals.

Those trees can usually be kept with good pruning and regular checks, but they need someone looking at them. A heavy limb over a bedroom or a maple with a cracked union near the house is a problem worth catching before the next storm. When a tree has reached the point where keeping it isn't safe, we'll say so and plan the removal around the house and the neighbors.

The gorge, ravines and steep lots

The Cuyahoga River cuts a deep gorge through the city, and plenty of Falls properties sit on the slopes above it or along the ravines that feed it. Gorge Metro Park, with its sandstone ledges and hemlocks, shows the kind of ground these trees grow on: shallow soil over rock in places, wet seeps in others and steep grades everywhere.

Trees on those slopes lean toward the light and can be top-heavy over thin roots. Removal and pruning on a hillside needs more planning for footing, rigging and where wood can safely land. If you have a large tree above your house on a slope, or a tree leaning toward the ravine, an assessment is worth doing before a wet spring storm tests it.

The national park side of town

On the north and west sides of the city, toward the old Northampton area, lots get larger and woodier and border Cuyahoga Valley National Park. Those properties have more native trees, more deer and more wild edge, which brings its own concerns: dead ash along the woods, beech trees affected by beech leaf disease and invasive species spreading in from neighboring yards.

On these lots we often recommend managing the woodland edge instead of clearing it: removing hazards near the house and driveway, keeping healthy native trees and replacing invasives with natives that belong next to the park. Planting choices matter more here, because what you plant can spread into the valley.

Questions we hear locally