Landscaping Elmwood Village Buffalo homes comes down to three things: narrow lots, big old trees and a shared driveway that has to be plowed without touching the neighbor’s car. The houses between Delaware Park and Allentown were built from the 1880s through the 1920s on lots often 30 to 40 feet wide, and every service we offer here, from tree work to fences to snow plowing, is shaped by that footprint.
Key takeaways
- Lot width drives everything. Equipment has to fit a side yard, and fences sit inches from the neighbor’s.
- Street trees belong to the city. The trees between the sidewalk and the curb need city permission; the ones in your yard are yours.
- Shared driveways need a plan. Two houses, one strip of concrete, and nowhere to put the snow.
- Backyards are small. Good design makes 400 square feet work hard.
- Sidewalks are your job. The City of Buffalo requires owners to clear the public walk.
The Elmwood Village lot
Elmwood Village runs along Elmwood Avenue from roughly Allentown north to Delaware Park, bounded by Delaware Avenue on the east and Richmond Avenue on the west. The streets off Elmwood, and the Olmsted parkways that thread through it, Bidwell Parkway, Chapin Parkway and Lincoln Parkway, are lined with Victorians, Queen Annes, four-squares and the two-flat Buffalo doubles the city is known for. Much of the neighborhood sits in a National Register historic district.
The typical lot is deep and narrow. The house takes most of the width, a driveway or a strip of grass runs down one side, and the backyard is a rectangle behind the house with a garage at the back. Many driveways are shared, with the property line running down the middle of the concrete.
Soil is flat lake plain clay with slow drainage, so backyards lower than the neighbor’s stay wet into May. Our Buffalo service page covers city-wide conditions.
Landscaping Elmwood Village Buffalo backyards
A small city backyard has to do several jobs at once: a place to sit, a path to the garage, somewhere for the bins, a little green and privacy from three neighbors. The design work is in the layout.
- Paths first. The route from the side door to the garage is the most used piece of the yard. Pavers or a stone path that drains keep it out of the mud.
- Beds along the edges. Planting against the fences leaves the middle open and makes a narrow yard feel wider.
- Shade-tolerant plants. Between the house, the garage and the neighbor’s maple, most Elmwood backyards get a few hours of direct sun. Hostas, ferns, hydrangeas and boxwood do the work here.
- Drainage. Regrading a low spot toward a drain or a dry well solves the spring swamp. Clay does not absorb much, so water has to be moved.
Our Buffalo landscaping page covers beds, plantings, pavers and grading for city lots.
Tree service Elmwood Village: street trees and yard trees
The big trees are the reason people move here. The parkways and side streets carry mature maples, oaks, lindens and sycamores, many older than the houses. They also drop limbs on roofs, lift sidewalks and shade lawns into moss.
Which tree is whose
Trees in the tree lawn between the sidewalk and the curb are city trees. Pruning or removing one needs permission from the city’s forestry division, and we do not touch them without it. Trees inside your property line are yours, and that is where most of our work happens: a silver maple leaning over the garage, a dead ash in the back corner, a limb over the neighbor’s roof.
Working on a narrow lot
There is no way to get a truck into the backyard, so trees come down in sections, rigged and lowered, or reached with the 100 foot tracked lift from the driveway where it fits. Winter, with frozen ground and dormant gardens, is the easiest season for this. Our Buffalo tree removal and tree trimming and pruning pages cover both.
The International Society of Arboriculture recommends a regular pruning cycle for mature trees to remove deadwood before it falls, and on a lot this tight, deadwood over a roof or a sidewalk is the first thing we look for. Nearby Parkside has the same Olmsted-era canopy, and our Parkside tree care guide goes deeper on century trees.
Fence installation on a Buffalo city lot
Fences here do two jobs: privacy from the neighbor six feet away, and a backdrop for a small garden. The property line matters more than anywhere else we work because the fence often sits inches from the neighbor’s foundation or driveway.
| Fence type | Where it fits in Elmwood Village | Watch for |
|---|---|---|
| Wood privacy, 6 foot | Backyard property lines, around the patio | Posts below the 42 inch frost line on clay; good side facing out |
| Vinyl privacy | Same as wood, lower maintenance | Panel width versus a tight run between garages |
| Aluminum or ornamental | Front yards on the parkways, around a side entry | Height limits in front yards; historic district character |
| Wood picket, 3 to 4 foot | Front yards, matches the house era | Sight lines at the driveway |
Front yard fence height is limited by city zoning, and corner lots have sight triangle rules at the intersection. A survey or the pins settle the line before we dig. See our Buffalo fence installation page for materials and process.
Snow plowing Elmwood Village: narrow and shared driveways
Snow plowing here is a different job from a suburban driveway. The driveway is 8 to 10 feet wide, runs between two houses, often serves two households, and ends at a garage with no room to turn around. The street is lined with parked cars, and the city plow leaves a ridge across the apron on every pass.
What narrow driveway snow plowing looks like
- Smaller equipment. A full-size plow truck does not fit a shared Elmwood drive. We run narrower trucks and, where needed, a walk-behind or blower for the tightest runs.
- Pile placement agreed in fall. Snow goes to the back of the lot or a corner of the front yard, never onto the neighbor’s side or the sidewalk. We set this at the walkthrough and stake it.
- Shared driveway agreements. One contract covering both houses, or two contracts with the same pile plan, avoids the mid winter argument.
- Apron ridge. We clear the ridge the city plow leaves at the street on the cleanup pass.
- 2 inch trigger. Routes run when accumulation hits 2 inches, with return passes in long storms.
The City of Buffalo requires property owners to clear the public sidewalk in front of the house, and on a double that includes the tenant’s stretch too. Walk clearing can be added to a plow contract. Our Buffalo snow plowing page covers city routes, and our neighborhood by neighborhood plowing guide explains how the city routes are grouped.
Western New York conditions on an Elmwood block
Elmwood Village sits north of the heaviest Lake Erie bands, which usually set up over South Buffalo and the Southtowns, so it sees Buffalo’s roughly 95 inch average rather than the 120 plus of Orchard Park. The snow has nowhere to go, though. By February the banks between the houses are head high and the shared driveway is a trench.
The clay underneath heaves anything set shallow. A fence post or a paver edge that was not built for the 42 inch frost depth lifts over a couple of winters and leans by the third. Freeze and thaw also lifts old walk slabs where maple roots run under them.
How KP works an Elmwood Village property
Every job starts with a free written estimate, valid 30 days. A crew lead walks the lot with you, measures the side yard access, looks at the trees over the house and the neighbor’s, checks the property line pins, and for snow customers marks where the piles go and stakes the driveway. We talk through what fits in the space and what does not.
Our own crews do the work, not subcontractors. On a narrow lot that means sectional tree removal, hand-carried materials for fences and beds, and plow routes capped by mid November so every driveway on the list gets done in a storm. Plow damage to lawns or fences is noted and repaired in spring.
Frequently asked questions
Can you plow a shared driveway in Elmwood Village?
Yes. Shared driveways are the norm here and we plow them with narrower trucks and a pile plan agreed by both households before the season. The best arrangement is a single contract covering both houses, with snow stacked at the back of the lot or in an agreed corner so neither side gets buried. Stakes mark the edges and the pile zone.
Who is responsible for the street trees in Buffalo?
The City of Buffalo owns and maintains the trees in the tree lawn between the sidewalk and the curb. Pruning or removal of those trees goes through the city’s forestry division. Trees inside your property line are your responsibility, and that is where we do most of our Elmwood Village tree work, including pruning over roofs and removals in tight backyards.
How do you remove a tree from a narrow Buffalo backyard?
In sections. A climber or the 100 foot tracked lift, where it fits down the driveway, takes the tree apart from the top, lowering each piece with rigging so nothing lands on the house, the garage or the neighbor’s fence. Wood and brush are carried out the side yard. Frozen ground in winter makes the carry easier and protects the lawn.
What fence can I put in my front yard in Elmwood Village?
City zoning limits front yard fence height, and the usual choices that fit the house style are a low wood picket or an aluminum ornamental fence. Corner lots have sight triangle rules at the intersection. If the house is in a locally designated historic district, exterior changes visible from the street may need review, so we check before the estimate is final.
Do I have to shovel the sidewalk in front of my house in Buffalo?
Yes. The City of Buffalo requires property owners to clear the public sidewalk along their lot, and on a double that includes the full frontage. Sidewalk clearing can be added to a snow plowing contract so the walk is done on the same visit as the driveway, which matters on the long frontages along the parkways.
How much does landscaping cost on a small city lot?
Less than a suburban yard in materials, often more per square foot in labor, because everything is carried in by hand through a side yard. A backyard refresh with a paver path, edged beds and plantings typically lands in the low to mid thousands depending on scope. We give a free written estimate rather than a guess.
Live between the park and Allentown? Call (585) 560-1134 or request a free written estimate and a crew lead will walk your lot, trees, fence line and driveway with you.
