Parks, tree and median maintenance is part of the parks division, which is responsible for maintaining and conserving community and historic parks, city facility landscapes, school athletic fields, downtown Village streetscapes, beach access, habitat preserves, urban forests, more than 28,000 trees and approximately 65 acres of landscaped medians in city right-of-ways.

• Report parks maintenance issues
• Integrated Pest Management Plan - 2017

Detailed information on the benefits of trees

• Tree planting demonstration video
• Benefits of trees
• New tree planting
• Pruning young trees
• Pruning mature trees

Street tree removal

Residents may request the removal of a city street tree by submitting the request in writing. The letter or e-mail must include the location of the tree and the reason for the removal. Upon receiving the letter or e-mail, a city arborist will inspect the tree and make a determination on the approval or denial of the request. Whether the street tree removal is approved or denied, anyone may request a formal appeal of the determination to the Parks and Recreation Commission. The fee to request an appeal is $120. The fee is reimbursed to the appellant if the Parks and Recreation Commission disagrees with the determination of the city arborist.

All street tree removal requests must be mailed to:

City of Carlsbad
Parks Maintenance
Attn: Trees Supervisor
1166 Carlsbad Village Drive
Carlsbad, CA 92008

Or e-mailed to: parksmaintenance@carlsbadca.gov

Community Forest Management Plan

The Community Forest Management Plan sets guidelines and procedures on how the city can plant, maintain, remove, replace and preserve public trees within the city's rights of way and within city owned/controlled properties. The CFMP was updated during the first three quarters of 2019, and reviewed/approved by the Historic Preservation Commission (specific to the Heritage Tree Reports), the Parks & Recreation Commission, and the City Council in September 2019.

Heritage trees

Heritage Trees are defined by the Carlsbad City Ordinance as follows: “Heritage trees shall be trees with notable historic interest or trees of unusual species or size.” Residents may nominate trees by submitting a completed Heritage Tree nomination form in person, by mail or email. The nominated tree will be evaluated by a city appointed arborist. If accepted, the application will be assigned to the Historic Preservation Committee for final review and approval. For more information on Heritage Trees, please visit the Community Forest Management Plan to view the Heritage Tree Report.