Tree Removal in Metairie, LA

A Metairie tree that needs to come down may have a roof, a carport or a neighbor’s fence within reach of its limbs. Good tree removal in Metairie comes down to two things: planning each cut around what sits underneath, and knowing whether your block falls in an area where Jefferson Parish wants an application on file first.

Big Easy Tree Removal takes trees down all over Metairie, from the older streets off Metairie Road to the neighborhoods around Lafreniere Park and out toward Fat City and Bucktown. This page is about removals only. For trimming, health checks and the rest of our work here, start with our Metairie tree service page.

What grows in Metairie yards, and what it sits on

Metairie is an unincorporated community, so its tree rules come from Jefferson Parish instead of a city hall. A yard may hold a tree planted when the house was new, plus whatever seeded itself along the back fence since.

Species makes a real difference here. In LSU AgCenter’s ranking of wind resistance, live oak, bald cypress and southern magnolia rank among the sturdiest trees, while laurel oak, water oak and pecan rank among the weakest. A tall water oak or pecan leaning over a bedroom deserves a harder look than a live oak of the same size.

Two other problems are worth knowing about:

• Chinese tallow. LSU AgCenter calls it a common sight in Louisiana yards and says it outcompetes native trees. Tallows crowding a fence line can be a good reason to take one out.
• Formosan termites. LSU AgCenter reports that the Formosan subterranean termite infests the wood of live trees, and that weakened trees are more likely to blow over in high winds. A hollow-sounding trunk or mud tubes on the bark call for a closer look, and our termite treatment page covers the options when a tree can be kept.

The ground also moves. NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory reported notable subsidence in Metairie in a study published in 2016. When a walk near a tree starts cracking, the roots, the settling soil or both may be to blame, so sort that out before giving up a healthy shade tree.

The Metairie Ridge district and Old Metairie

The Jefferson Parish code sets up the Metairie Ridge Tree Preservation District, bounded by Bonnabel Boulevard, I-10, Metairie Road, North Labarre Road, the Norfolk Southern tracks and the 17th Street Canal. Inside that district, and inside the Old Metairie Neighborhood Conservation District, the code says a tree removal application shall be filed with the Department of Parkways before any tree is removed. The code treats routine tree maintenance differently from removal in that district, so the filing rule is aimed at taking trees out.

Where a parish zoning district calls for tree preservation, the code also protects “significant” trees: oaks other than water oaks, elms, magnolias and sycamores from eight inches across at chest height, plus most canopy trees from 24 inches. It also sets a separate path for hurricane-damaged trees, covered in the FA