The Department of Parks and the Environment is responsible for the city’s green spaces, roadside greenery, and trees in Mainz, the state capital. Our responsibilities also include environmental planning, nature conservation, landscape management, environmental regulation, as well as the planning and maintenance of fountains, green spaces, and playgrounds. From spring through fall, the city’s green spaces are mowed or trimmed at regular intervals by our staff or by contracted companies.

You can find a detailed list of all our services in our service catalog.

Roads, sidewalks, and bike paths do not fall under the jurisdiction of the Parks and Environment Department; instead, they are managed by the Road Maintenance Division (Department 61.03) within the City Planning Office.

The respective property owner is responsible for vegetation encroaching from private property. Issuing warnings to the relevant private property owners is also the responsibility of the Road Maintenance Division at the City Planning Office. 

However, overgrowth from municipal green spaces can be reported to us.

The Parks and Environment Department is not authorized to take action on private property. Similarly, we cannot prepare reports on diseased trees or pest infestations, as doing so would put us, as a public institution, in direct competition with private companies.

If you notice any of the above-mentioned problems, please contact a qualified specialist firm for landscaping, tree care, or pest control. Another resource for questions regarding plant pests is the Garden Academy of the Rural Service Center (DLR) Rheinpfalz.

Please let us know the exact location of the tree in question by phone, email, or through the contact form. If possible, please provide us with the tree number (the tag is located at a height of approximately 2.5 meters). The tree maintenance crew will respond as soon as possible.

In Mainz, trees with a circumference of 80 cm or more, measured at a height of one meter above ground level, are subject to the “Regulation on the Protection of Trees within the City of Mainz.” Felling or severe pruning of such trees is permitted only under certain circumstances. You must therefore apply for a permit for these trees in accordance with the regulation. 

A felling permit outside of building permit procedures is issued by the Department of Green Space Maintenance and Tree Care of the Office of Green Spaces and the Environment. The subsequent felling is not carried out by the Office of Green Spaces and the Environment.

Felling protected trees without a permit may be punishable by a fine of up to 50,000 euros (Section 7(2) of the Ordinance on the Protection of Trees within the City of Mainz). 

Further information and the form can be found in the service catalog of the Department of Green Space Maintenance and Tree Care.

When pruning trees, hedges, shrubs, and ivy, several legal regulations of equal importance must be observed simultaneously.

Extensive pruning and clearing of hedges and shrubs is generally prohibited from March 1 through September 30.

This prohibition does not apply to:

• trees in areas used for gardening
• Minor and gentle pruning for shaping and maintenance to remove new growth or to maintain plant health

In all cases, the following must be observed:

• When pruning any woody plants, regardless of the extent of the pruning, you must observe species protection regulations.
• Trees with a trunk circumference of 80 cm or more, measured at a height of one meter, are subject to the “Regulation on the Protection of the Tree Population within the City of Mainz” and are therefore protected.
• Notwithstanding the exceptions mentioned above, a permit is required for pruning protected trees that goes beyond routine maintenance. This permit must be applied for at the Office of Parks and the Environment (Department 67.05) of the State Capital of Mainz. Further information and the application form can be found in the service catalog under “Apply for Tree Removal or Pruning.”
• The removal of trees and shrubs can constitute an intervention in nature and the landscape and may therefore be subject to the intervention regulations.

Legal basis and further information can be found at:

• Regulation on the Protection of the Tree Population within the City of Mainz (opens in a new tab)
• Section 39 of the Federal Nature Conservation Act (opens in a new tab) 

Trees and their overhanging branches, overgrown hedges, property line distances, etc., are issues that often lead to disputes among neighbors. However, the Parks and Environment Department has no authority to intervene in such matters.

If the issue involves neighborhood disputes or damage to property (trees, bushes, etc.), you must pursue the matter under private law. Further information, such as regulations regarding the distance between hedges, can be found in the Neighbor Law for the State of Rhineland-Palatinate.