Tree service around McKennan Park and All Saints
South of downtown, the streets around McKennan Park and All Saints have some of the oldest, fullest canopy in Sioux Falls, and the street-tree rules that come with it.
McKennan Park is the historic, tree-lined neighborhood south of downtown, anchored by the park itself, with its rose garden, tennis courts and walking paths, and Avera McKennan Hospital a short walk away. All Saints, next door, centers on the old All Saints School building and its streets of preserved early-1900s homes. Both connect to the Big Sioux River Greenway. They're the kind of streets where the canopy closes over the road in summer, and where almost every house has a big boulevard tree out front that the owner is responsible for.
That means a lot of our work here is clearance and care, not removal. Project TRIM surveys a different district of the city each year and mails letters to owners whose trees hang lower than 10 feet over the sidewalk or 12 feet over the street. We prune to the rule without topping, which the City bans on street trees. Many of the big boulevard trees here are ash, and the City removes parking-strip ash for free under its EAB plan unless the owner treats it. For a healthy one you want to keep, we can inject it and help you report it so the City's crews leave it standing. Old elms get preventive injections, and oaks get pruned outside April through June. When a big tree does have to come down between two houses, it comes down in sections, or with a crane.
What we do in McKennan Park
Project TRIM letters
Boulevard trees pruned to the 10- and 12-foot clearances before the City's deadline.
Treat-or-remove for ash
Boulevard ash either treated and reported, or left for the City's free removal.
Old-elm protection
Preventive Dutch elm disease injections every three years.
Deadwood out of big canopies
Dead limbs removed over roofs, sidewalks and parked cars.
Tight-lot removals
Sections roped down between houses, or lifted out with a crane.
Replanting
A different species from the rest of the block, with the City's planting permit and voucher.
Streets and areas we cover
- McKennan Park
- All Saints
- Avera McKennan Hospital area
- South Minnesota Avenue
- 26th Street
- Augustana University area
- University of Sioux Falls area
- Big Sioux River Greenway
- South Phillips Avenue
- Downtown edge
Tree services in McKennan Park
- Ash tree removal, emerald ash borer treatment, tree removal, crane removal
- Trimming and pruning, boulevard trees, spruce care, elm and oak care
- 24/7 emergency service, storm cleanup, stump grinding, replacement planting
Questions from McKennan Park homeowners
The City sent a TRIM letter about my boulevard tree. What's required?
Clearance of 10 feet over the sidewalk and 12 feet over the street, and the tree can't block streetlights or traffic signs. If it isn't done after the second deadline, City crews do it and bill $150 an hour.
My boulevard ash looks healthy. Do I have to let the City remove it?
No. The City removes street ash for free unless the owner treats it. If you treat it, report the treatment to the 211 Helpline Center with the year and any blue number on the trunk.
Can you prune our oak in May?
We'd rather not. The state advises against pruning oaks in April, May and June because of oak wilt. July through March is fine.
What does trimming a big boulevard tree cost?
Clearance pruning for a TRIM letter usually runs $150 to $450 per tree. Full crown cleaning on a mature shade tree runs $400 to $1,200.
Nearby: Cathedral District · South Sioux Falls · North Sioux Falls · Harrisburg · full service area