Quick answer
Yes. We prune and remove trees throughout Mayfair, from the Pennypack Park edge down to the Cottman and Frankford corridor. A typical job here is a sidewalk tree in front of a rowhome, which needs a Parks and Recreation permit before major pruning or removal, or a small front-lawn tree that has outgrown its patch of grass. Phones are answered 24/7.
Ten percent canopy or less
A 2021 Inquirer analysis put Mayfair among the Northeast neighborhoods with tree cover of 10 percent or less, alongside Tacony, Oxford Circle and Wissinoming. Chestnut Hill, at the other end of the city, sat near 60 percent. The 2023 Philly Tree Plan aims for 30 percent cover in every neighborhood within 30 years, and Northeast Philadelphia is one of its priority areas.
On a block with so few trees, each one carries a lot of the shade, so our first question on a Mayfair call is whether the tree can be kept with pruning rather than taken down. Sometimes it cannot: dead, split or lifting the house wall. When removal is the answer, it is worth planning a replacement for the same spot before the stump is even ground. Where street tree roots are lifting the pavement, cutting just the offending roots can let the sidewalk be relaid while the tree stays.
The tree jobs Mayfair blocks need
Rowhome lots, sidewalk strips and very little canopy shape almost every Mayfair job.
- Street Tree RemovalA dead or failing sidewalk tree in front of a rowhome, taken down once the city permit is in place.
- Crown Raising & Clearance PruningLow limbs over the sidewalk and parked cars lifted so people and trucks pass underneath.
- Ornamental Tree PruningSmall front-lawn trees on the prewar stone rows, shaped to stay in scale with the lot.
- Stump GrindingFront-lawn stumps ground out from the sidewalk side so the grass can grow back.
- Tree PlantingA new tree set in the same spot after a removal, so the block does not lose its shade.
Prewar stone rows and postwar garage rows
Mayfair is the youngest of the Northeast communities. It grew up in the 1930s on open land between Tacony and Holmesburg, and its main crossroads at Cottman and Frankford avenues has stayed put ever since. The typical house is a rowhome: many built in stone just before World War II with grass front lawns, and postwar rows that are larger, with parking garages at the back. Pennypack Park borders the neighborhood to the north, with Roosevelt Boulevard, Frankford Avenue and Cottman Avenue as its commercial corridors.
The house type decides how a job runs. A front-lawn tree is reached from the sidewalk, with the chipper at the curb and the wood carried a few steps. On a postwar row, the garage side can give a way in from the back. A prewar row with no rear access means everything leaves through the front, which our rowhome yard guide covers.
Ownership has shifted too. Mostly owner-occupied rowhouses in 2010, much of Mayfair was bought by investors over the following years and is now mostly rental. If you own rentals here, a tree you never see is still yours: Philadelphia holds the owner responsible for trees on private land, overhanging limbs included, with fines of $150 to $300 for violations.
Street-tree permits on Mayfair sidewalks
A tree in the sidewalk strip in front of your rowhome stands in the public right-of-way. You own it, but the City holds jurisdiction and Parks and Recreation manages it, and major pruning or removal needs a permit. Parks and Recreation prunes mature street trees and removes dead or hazardous ones at no charge, but it will not remove a living, healthy tree. If you hire a contractor instead, that contractor needs a tree work permit from Street Tree Management before any cut. The street tree permit guide has the full sequence.
Mayfair tree questions
For major pruning or removal of a tree in the sidewalk strip, yes. Whoever does the work needs a Parks and Recreation tree work permit before starting.
Yes. Trees on private property are the owner's responsibility, overhanging limbs included, and city fines of $150 to $300 go to the owner. Tenants can call us, but the decisions and the bill are yours.
Yes. Front-lawn stumps are usually reachable straight from the sidewalk, and the hole is backfilled with soil so the grass can come back over it.
Rowhome blocks with small front lawns leave limited room for big trees. A 2021 analysis put Mayfair's canopy at 10 percent or less, among the thinnest in Northeast Philadelphia.
Next to Mayfair
Sidewalk or lawn tree in Mayfair?
Call and tell us where it stands. We will sort out whether a permit is needed and price the work before anything is cut.