Tree Service Wildwood MO
Wildwood wants to hear from you before a tree comes down. Removal tied to clearing or grading needs a city permit, and a healthy oak or hickory 24 inches across is a Grand Tree under the city code.
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Do I Need the City’s Permission to Remove a Tree in Wildwood?
In most cases, yes: contact the city first. Wildwood’s own guidance says removal that is part of any land disturbance typically needs a permit, and that even for an ordinary removal the city asks to be told, especially when it is large or mature. Ask for the City Arborist at City Hall, 16860 Main Street, (636) 458-0440.
The rules sit in Chapter 410 of the city code, the Tree Preservation and Restoration Code. This is how it reads as of October 2026. Confirm your own case with the city before cutting.
| What you plan | What Wildwood’s rules say | Who to ask |
|---|---|---|
| One yard tree, no grading | Notify the city. Replanting may be required. | City Arborist, Department of Planning |
| Clearing for a driveway, addition or view | Grading Permit. At least 30 percent of the canopy outside the building setbacks must stay (Section 410.040). | Department of Public Works |
| A healthy oak or hickory 24 inches or more in diameter | A Grand Tree. Planning permit and replacement planting (Section 410.060). | Department of Planning |
| A tree between the sidewalk and the street | A city street tree. The city trims and removes these. | Department of Public Works |
The code also works the other way. Under Section 410.100 the Director of Planning can order the removal of a tree on private property that endangers the public, at the owner’s cost after 30 days. If you have had that letter, see dangerous tree removal.
Public forest is off limits altogether. The city says parks cover 11 of its 68 square miles: a greenbelt of Babler State Park, Rockwoods Reservation, Rockwoods Range and Greensfelder Park.
How Do You Get Equipment to a Tree on a Wildwood Hillside?
Often you do not, and the tree is climbed instead. The city’s Master Plan explains why: Manchester Road follows the ridgeline that splits drainage between the Meramec River to the south and the Missouri River to the north. In the Non-Urban Residence District, where lots are three acres or larger, the plan notes that access roads and building sites are kept to the ridge lines. So the house and driveway sit on top and many trees stand on the slope below.
The same plan describes the rural roads as narrow, with one-lane bridges, no shoulders and steep hills. A crane or bucket truck needs firm, level ground, and on many of these lots the driveway is the only place that offers it.
Septic fields and wells change the route
The Master Plan says many owners west of Route 109 are on well water, and that homes outside the sewer district rely on individual septic systems. Heavy equipment should stay off a lateral field.
Our large tree removal page explains when a crane is used. Cutting a new path for machines through the woods is itself clearing, which is what a Grading Permit covers.
What Is Killing Oaks and Ash in Wildwood’s Woods?
Oak decline, oak wilt and emerald ash borer. The city code names oaks and hickories as its large hardwoods, and the Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) calls Rockwoods Reservation a sample of the Ozarks.
Oak decline
MDC says it mainly hits black, scarlet and southern red oaks older than 70 years, usually after drought. Look for dieback from the branch tips and dead limbs high in the crown. Affected trees usually die within two to five years.
Oak wilt
MDC says a red oak can lose its leaves within weeks and die within a year, and the fungus moves through grafted roots to the next oak. Its rule is no oak pruning from mid-March through June. See our oak wilt guide.
Emerald ash borer
The city confirms it is in Wildwood. By fall 2024 it had removed more than 1,300 ash street trees and was treating 269. Private ash are the owner’s job. Read treat or remove.
Who Trims Trees Near the Power Lines in Wildwood?
Ameren Missouri does, but only along its own lines. It is the one electric utility the City of Wildwood lists for residents.
Ameren says it trims only in rights-of-way and easements. The line from the pole to your house, the service drop, is the owner’s responsibility, and Ameren will arrange a disconnect so that work can be done safely. In heavily wooded areas its crews stack the cut brush along the right-of-way, and after a storm they leave the debris for the owner.
What Have Storms Done to Wildwood’s Trees?
Tornadoes have cut through these woods at least twice since 2011. On the night of February 27, 2011, National Weather Service surveys recorded three EF1 tornadoes inside Babler State Park within about two minutes. They snapped and uprooted large trees along Guy Park Road, John Cochran Road and in the campground.
On March 14, 2025, an EF-2 tornado that began in Villa Ridge crossed from Franklin County into western St. Louis County. In the Weather Service’s words it kept producing “concentrated, significant tree damage” until it ended at the bend in Highway 100 northeast of Fox Creek, one of Wildwood’s old settlements.
Report a tree down on a city street at (636) 458-0440 and a line down to Ameren. For a tree on your house, Thompson Tree Care and Landscaping handles storm damage tree removal and answers the phone around the clock. Wildwood is at the far western edge of our service area, so we tell you plainly when a crew can reach you. We serve Ellisville to the east and Eureka to the south.
Last Updated: October 2026
Wildwood Tree Rules and Wooded Lots: Your Questions
Chapter 410 defines it as a tree in fair or better condition at or above a set trunk diameter. For large hardwoods such as oaks and hickories that is 24 inches, measured four and a half feet above the ground. Section 410.060 says Grand Trees are not to be disturbed without a permit from the Department of Planning, and an approved removal carries a replacement requirement. A dead tree does not meet the condition test, but let the City Arborist confirm that.
A tree rooted on public land belongs to the agency, so do not cut it yourself. Report it to the Missouri Department of Conservation office at Rockwoods Reservation on (636) 458-2236 or the Babler State Park office on (636) 458-3813.
Not usually. Ameren Missouri says trees near the service drop from the main line to the house are the property owner’s responsibility. A tree touching the higher-voltage line along the road is different: stay away from it and report it to Ameren.
Yes. Mark the tank, the lateral field and the well line before the estimate. Where a truck cannot get past them, the tree is climbed and lowered in sections on ropes, and the wood is carried or winched out.