Lawn Care in Odessa, DE

Odessa is small, old and shaded, so the yard work starts with the trees.

Odessa is a small town and we will not pretend otherwise. Census Reporter's ACS 2024 5-year estimates count about 409 people and 154 homes inside town limits, a median build year of 1941, and 71 percent of homes in the 19730 ZIP standing since before 1960. The National Register district, first listed in 1971 and enlarged in 1984, covers about 61 acres and 95 buildings, most built between 1840 and 1870 and four in five of them frame. Its nomination calls Main Street a broad, tree-lined thoroughfare and describes the five tree-lined blocks of High Street running parallel to it.

That canopy is thinning. The town's 2022 comprehensive plan update says many of Odessa's large shade trees were lost to emerald ash borer and to dogwood decline from anthracnose, that its Norway maples are approaching the end of their natural life span, and that Delaware Forest Service information shows a decline of almost 40 acres in forest cover. Older trees break in storms, and the record shows it: NOAA's Storm Events Database lists multiple large trees damaged at Odessa on April 26, 2019, some of them split, and trees down in town on May 29, 2019. We plan fall cleanups and limb pickup around those trees.

Odessa also has its own tree law. Ordinance 2023-03, the Street and Park Tree Ordinance, treats any tree or shrub between the curb and the sidewalk as a street tree, and no owner may plant, spray, prune or remove one without the Tree Commission's permission. Topping a street tree is unlawful. Owners still have to keep overhanging branches clear of sidewalks, streets, street lamps and intersection views, with 30 days to act after a notice. We remove brush and small trees on private ground, and we leave curbside street trees alone unless the Commission has approved the work.

The ground falls toward the water. The comprehensive plan puts Odessa at about 10 feet above sea level near the Appoquinimink River and about 60 feet on the north side of town. Delaware's FirstMap soils layer maps the old core as Greenwich-Urban land complex, with Sassafras sandy loam on 10 to 15 percent slopes and tidal Broadkill-Appoquinimink soils along the river. High water closed Route 299 at the Appoquinimink south of town on April 16, 2018, and Post-Tropical Storm Sandy brought water rescues to Odessa on October 29, 2012. On sloped lots we keep leaf piles and clippings off the low edge.

What Odessa yards need most

• Leaf and limb cleanup under the old shade trees lining Main and High Streets.
• Overhanging branches that Odessa's 2023 tree ordinance tells owners to keep clear of walks and streets.
• Curbside street trees, which need Tree Commission permission before anyone prunes, sprays or removes them.
• Brick walks to edge and shovel carefully; the town's 2002 policy lets old bricks go back in their pattern.
• Sloped yards near the Appoquinimink, mapped as Sassafras sandy loam on 10 to 15 percent grades.
• Yard waste timed to the alternating Monday pickups on the town's 2026 schedule, which run all year.

Our Services

Not sure where to start? Get a free estimate →

What clients say.

Odessa lawn care questions, answered.