Trees Company

Another Corymbia ficifolia

2011-11-22T18:55:00.000-08:00

A very popular tree in San Francisco, these trees do well be they are well suited to sandy soils and coastal, Mediterranean climates. They come from the south coast of Western Australia.

Before

After

The goal was to give this tree a thinning out, but to keep a natural shape. The job took me and Mike about 5 hours, including set up and clean up. I did the pruning and Mike monitored the ground for pedestrian safety, advised me on the overall shape (we call it an eyeball), and did most of the clean up.

Big Ol' Ficus

2011-11-03T22:48:00.000-07:00

It is VERY important to take proper care of Ficus trees. Pay a little extra and hire someone who knows what they are doing. Often you see Ficus trees with long naked limbs with lots of green on the ends. This is called "Lion Tailing." It's not a safe or healthy way to trim any tree. This is especially true for Ficus trees since they have characteristically weak branch attachments. Ficus trees are notorious for dropping large limbs. I've heard that some insurance companies won't cover you if you park your car under a Ficus tree.

If you look closely, you can see that the tree below lost a limb this way. The limb was once directly over the street.

BEFORE

AFTER

Pittosporum

2011-10-26T23:28:00.000-07:00

BEFORE

AFTER

Inside of canopy BEFORE

Inside of canopy AFTER

Must be the season of the Birch

2011-10-08T20:17:00.000-07:00

In the Bay Area, Birch trees are best pruned in Sept/October, right before the leaves fall. Pruning Birches in the Spring and Summer can lead to infestation of the Bronze Birch Borer. Pruning Birches in the Fall and Winter can lead to intense, unwanted suckering in the spring.

If you have a birch tree or would like to plant a birch tree check out this website.
http://www.birch-tree.com/index.html

I pruned two Birches in this clients yard. The first tree had to be brought down somewhat because it blocked a neighbor's view. The second tree simply needed to be cleaned up. When I prune birch trees I like to accent the trailing branches and remove the vertical ones.

Before

After

Before

After

Cordyline australis

2011-08-22T23:50:00.000-07:00

Cordyline australis, or Cabbage Palm comes from New Zealand. In its natural habitat it can grow up to 20 meters tall with a trunk of 1.5 to 2 meters wide. They are very common in San Francisco. Unfortunately they are often misplanted; too close to foundations, too close to walls, too close to retaining walls, in small spaces where they eventually get too big.

They tend to get very dense and bushy as you can see from the "before" shot below. For that reason they offer birds a protective habitat to nest. On several occasions I have had to halt pruning these trees because of nesting birds. It may be a better to wait until fall or winter when baby birds have most likely left the nest.

BEFORE

AFTER

The flowers appear in panicles about 2-3 feet long. The have a sweet aroma and attract bees and other insects. Birds love the fruit. The spent flower stalks are persistent on the tree and look ugly. They should be removed for aesthetic reasons.

There are also many different cultivars. Cordyline australis is one of the most cultivated New Zealand trees. It is all over Europe, England, and the United States. They are often used poolside or for tropical effect.

"Red Star" is a favorite for gardens in San Francisco and the Bay Area

The Cabbage Tree was used by the Maori as food, medicine, and fibre. Check out the Wikipedia page on Cordyline australis for more detail on its many uses and its fascinating history.

Take the Camellia Challenge

2011-07-29T00:26:00.000-07:00

Today I took on the challenge of transforming this overgrown Camellia. It had been badly pruned many years ago and left alone until now. I thinned, removed dead branches, removed many stubs, and worked on setting up the groundwork for better, more attractive layering.

BEFORE

After my initial pruning this shrub looks a lot better. After a couple years of continued care, it will look really stunning.

When a shrub or tree is left untended for too long, especially after a hacked pruning job, it may take several years to reclaim its full potential beauty. A hack pruning causes excessive sprouting that eventually shades out the interior of the plant. When the plant's interior gets no light, the inner green leaves die. You end up with a mess of dead branches that once removed leave behind bare, leggy scaffold branches.

AFTER

A Beautiful Berkeley Garden

2011-07-27T22:29:00.000-07:00

Berkeley gardens are typically full and wild; grasses, roses, wild flowers, and small shrubs fill the space. One can grow so many plants in Berkeley because there is lots of sun, heat, and people who love their gardens. The owner of this house on Delaware Street has plants and trees everywhere. In exchange for several tickets to the San Francisco symphony, I agreed to tend to his trees.

These two trees in front are an olive (left) and a Campbell Magnolia (right).

Olives get thick and bushy if left alone. With some thinning, no more than one third of the canopy, I allowed its natural shape to appear: in this case, a graceful s curve. When pruning olive trees, it's crucial to know when to stop.

The magnolia was full of buds. I only made about six small cuts because I prefer to prune Magnolias after they have bloomed. The secret to pruning this tree was less is more. With just a few small snips I was able to even out the shape.

BEFORE

AFTER

In the back, there were several fruit trees, vines, shrubs, roses, and lots of flowers. This Bay Tree was front and center. To me it felt like the Incredible Hulk next to all these delicate plants. So I did my best to thin it out and keep a natural shape.

BEFORE

AFTER

Trees in political news.

2011-07-20T17:55:00.000-07:00

San Francisco trees are in the news. There is talk of the city passing on the responsibility of 24,000 street trees to property owners.

Check out the article by Alex Zielinski

Red Tailed Hawk

2011-07-19T09:13:00.000-07:00

Last Wednesday I got to participate in the re-nesting of a Red Tailed Hawk.

Check out this blog entry for the exciting story.

Wild Rescue

Small Ficus tree

2011-07-08T00:51:00.000-07:00

(Before)

(After)

Ficus trees (Ficus macrocarpa) are very common street trees in San Francisco. Many large specimins magnificently line 24st in the Mission District. They are in every neighborhood. Unfortunately they are pavement busters and are known for dropping limbs.

This tree collapsed on itself in San Francisco last year.

http://sfist.com/2010/06/08/tree_down_at_fourth_and_brannan.php

I have heard that insurance companies wont cover auto damage caused by ficus trees.

This doesn't happen every day, but I wouldn't park your 1958 Ford Thunderbird under a large ficus. I won't park my truck under a Ficus tree simply because it is almost a guarantee that the birds will have crapped all over it by morning.

They do a great job cleaning the air. They trap more pollutants than any other tree in San Francisco. After an hour in a ficus tree my face looks like I've been playing in a chimney.

In the Moraceae family, Ficus is a genus with over 850 species. Some of the more famous onces are: Ficus benjamina, a common house plant; Ficus carica, the common fig; Ficus benghalensis, the Banyan Tree, known in tropical climates of its aerial roots that create massive trunks.

In San Francisco ficus trees are often topped. I've seen them sometimes re-sprout and sometimes die. Never top your trees. They can be pruned harder than most trees, but if you remove all of the green you may end up with a dead tree,

Corymbia ficifolia, Red Flowering Gum

2011-07-02T21:56:00.000-07:00

(Before)

(After)

The goal here was to raise the skirt to comply with the city code for height over the street (14') and over the sidewalk (8'). We also wanted to lighten the end-weight of the branches. This will lessen the risk of a branch breaking in heavy wind or rain. These trees get particularly heavy because of the large seed capsules. They look like large, hard olives.

The Corymbia ficifolia, previously known as the Eucalyptus ficifolia, is from Australia; the south coast of Western Australia. Like California, Western Australia has a Mediterranean climate; a temperate zone with wet winters, and warm, dry summers. So it's not surprising that many of the trees in California are from Western Australia.

Although the Red Flowering Gum is not in the genus Eucalyptus any more, both are part of the Myrtle family: Myrtaceae. Other members of the Myrtle family that are common street trees in San Francisco are the Callistemon citrinus (Bottle Brush), Metrosideros excelsus (New Zealand Christmas Tree) and Eucalyptus globulous (Blue Gum Eucalyptus).

The Flowers of the Red Flowering Gum have many
stamins (those fuzzy red things) but no petals. This is a hallmark
of the Myrtle Family.

The flowers come in various colors from pink to red to orange.

The flowers of the Bottle Brush (Callistemon citrinus)

The flowers of the New Zealand Christmas Tree (Metrosideros excelsus)

The flowers of the Blue Gum (Eucalyptus globulous)

More light please

2011-04-15T00:06:00.000-07:00

Here we had a common situation. The neighbor's large tree, a Eugenia, was overshadowing the area that my clients want to fill with plants. The goal was to cut it back, but make it look natural. The clients were clear that they did not want it to look butchered. That's understandable.

BEFORE

AFTER

Big, Black Acacia

2011-04-06T23:06:00.000-07:00

The Acacia melanoxylon originates from Australia, but I have seen it naturalized all over California and all over Chile (both Mediterranean climates). It's a large, evergreen tree with yellow, pea-sized, puff ball flowers. In San Francisco they bloom in late winter and make a huge mess.

I've heard some people say the acacia's heavy pollen count drives them crazy. My allergist said that the acacia pollen is not a common allergen. I disagree. We were all sneezing our heads off the day we pruned this big guy

Some people like them, others don't. I think they are a good choice for a large tree in San Francisco if they are well maintained. I've seen them trained as thick hedges; they make a good screen. The more you prune, however, the more they grow. So if you want to them to keep their shape, expect to have to get them pruned once a year.

(before)

Mikey (below), my friend and co-worker loves to use the wood for his furniture projects. He's always on the lookout for an acacia takedown so that he can salvage the wood. The sap wood is a lush yellow and the heart wood is a dark brown with great venation. Gorgeous.

(after)

The goal with this tree was to open it up so that the client would have a view through the tree while maintaining sufficient screening. You can see in the picture below the fantastic view from the client's upper deck through the tree from atop Bernal Heights.

We also wanted to tuck it back from two of the neighboring yards. The neighbors were all out that day, requesting the tree off of their property, or out of their views. Such a big tree in such a high density neighborhood means that everyone has a stake in what we do. Fortunately, in this case (but not in every case) these neighbors got along really well. Everyone in the end was pleased.

(after)

Big, beautiful plum

2011-04-06T22:20:00.000-07:00

Young Melaluca

2011-04-03T23:37:00.000-07:00

It was a beautiful day in Bernal Heights. Our client, Karen, wanted us to prune this wonderful Melaluca.

Our goal was to give it a nice natural shape, create natural layers, and to lighten it up a little without taking away the nice screening. It took me about 2 hours to prune with Mikey helping on the ground.

Before:

After:

Balance Issues

2011-04-01T23:51:00.000-07:00

Rock N Rose Landscapers asked me to fix their client's crazy, off-balance tree.

The mayten tree (Maytenus boraria, from Chile) tolerates heavy pruning. The more you prune, the more they grow.

In San Francisco, I see this tree get drastically reduced in size just to bounce right back a year later. So I know from experience that removing this much of the tree will not cause irreparable harm.

WARNING! Don't be fooled. Some tree trimmers head each limb until there is barely any green left. Some people mistakenly think this is acceptable. They may even call it pollarding. It is neither. It is topping. It is not good for the long term health of the tree. I'll insert a picture of this style of pruning the next time I see it.

In this case, the large unbalanced lateral branch had become the dominant leader. Left unchecked it would eventually break. It is best to take care of these structural issues early on, before they get so out of hand.

Water Sprouts

2011-03-11T09:22:00.000-08:00

These vertical shoots are called water sprouts. They are fast growing branches that can often overtake the leader. Usually they appear in a tree that has been over pruned or is under stress. It is a good idea to find out the probable cause and remedy the situation. You should remove water sprouts before they get too big. They tend to have weak attachments. If you let them develop into big branches they have good chances of breaking off.

Water sprouts also suck up too much energy. The energy they use detracts from the tree's regular growth. Unfortunately sometimes if you remove them they just grow back. If this happens, the next time you prune just take out the big ones and leave a few of the small ones.

In this case, I think that this plum tree is under some stress; the root system remove is poor. How could I tell? A sure sign is to lightly shake the tree trunk. Watch the ground. If the ground moves, there is poor root structure. The ground moved somewhat when I shook the tree. However, I don't think the tree is in too much danger of falling over. Whoever planted the this plum tree may not have sufficiently broken up the root ball. Or, it had spent so much time growing in a small pot that it will take much longer to form a healthy root system

Trees are smart. When they get knocked around by the wind they react by growing support roots. If they are tied up to a stake then they learn to rely on the stake. If the tree can't support itself in a windstorm then it should come out before it gets too big.

I removed the biggest water sprouts and the stakes. We'll see how this tree fares a year from now.

Young Tree Training

2011-03-10T17:59:00.000-08:00

This plum tree needs some young tree training. It was planted by Friends of the Urban Forest several years ago. They usually take care of trees for three years after planting. This includes stake and tie adjustments and some pruning. After three years it is the owner's responsibility to maintain the tree.

The owner of this tree got a notice from the city advising him to have an arborist help with the upkeep. There was not much work to be done, but the work was very important. Street trees are exposed to the elements without a natural environment. They can get very thick and bushy, creating a wind sail. They also can grow too low over the street or sidewalk and thus more prone to break. If you get an arborist to train your tree when young you will end up with a longer living, more beautiful, healthy tree. It is also better for the tree to train the structure while still young rather than waiting until you have to make bigger cuts or waiting until there is damage or the tree falls over.

I also took the stakes away, since they were no longer necessary.

Magnolia, first pruning

2010-11-13T22:43:00.000-08:00

Here is a Magnolia grandiflora that has never been pruned before. Chris Fetter did a bang up job thinning it out and keeping the form look natural.

Before pruning:

After pruning:

Liquidambar styraciflua

2010-11-13T22:28:00.000-08:00

Here is a beautiful tree on Piedmont St, near Asbury, in San Francisco. This American Sweetgum is technically a deciduous tree, but here in our Mediterranean climate they don't normally lose all of their leaves at once. They look a lot like Maple trees. Some of them have better fall color than others.

We needed to prune this tree for clearances and to reduce the weigh on the ends of the branches to reduce the risk of a branch breaking and causing damage. The goal was to make the tree look as natural as possible.

Before pruning:

After pruning:

Ouch

2010-11-13T22:23:00.000-08:00

I don't know who pruned this tree, but it looks terrible. Is it really worth saving a couple of hundred dollars for this?

Some trees grow on granite

2010-11-12T19:29:00.000-08:00

Check out this Juniper growing out of a granite boulder at Yosemite National Park. Thousands of years of evolution has enabled this species to grow in this environment, high on a mountain, perched on a granite boulder. It wouldn't survive anywhere but here.

California coast Redwoods need moist, temperate air, humos rich soil. They naturally grow in valleys. They don't like wind. Yet, people love them and want to plant them in windy San Francisco and in the dry central valley. So they look okay for ten, twenty years. But they they turn brown. And they call me. And I have to tell them it probably shouldn't have been planted in the first place.

Sycamores are riparian trees, but require a drier climate. They hate wind. Yet we continue to plant them all over San Francisco. Why? Who knows? They look terrible in Civic Center; thin, barely any foliage, leaning away from the wind. They keep planting them on Valencia. It's too bad.

Jacarandas, from Brazil, need lots and lots of sun. They look great in Mexico City. Flying in to the city in March, the ground is blanketed in purple. In San Francisco they generally look sick. Some years are better than others. Sometimes they bloom well, sometimes not. This is not a tree I would plant here.

So before you choose a tree for your desired location, consider your soil type, the wind, water availability, and sun exposure. Sometimes the recipe for a successful planting can come down to being on the sunny side of the street or away from a wind tunnel.

Ficus Forest

2010-11-12T19:07:00.000-08:00

These big Ficus Trees on Carolina and 19th Street in San Francisco were getting too close to the high voltage power lines. It took 5 of us 4 days to prune all these trees. The goal was three fold: First we wanted to keep PG&E out of the picture. PG&E tends to do a really bad job pruning trees. They are certainly cheaper, but you get what you pay for. Secondly, we needed to create a 14 foot clearance over the street to comply with the city regulations and to keep trucks from damaging the trees. Finally, the clients wanted to let more light onto the sidewalk. Sometimes a dense canopy can lead to mischievous behavior at night. The neighbors wanted to feel safer.

Below is a BEFORE picture.

Here is an AFTER picture:

Here is a picture of BEFORE and AFTER in one:

Make way for new a new cross light in Atherton

2010-11-12T19:02:00.000-08:00

About a month ago I sprained my ankle. It was inconvenient, but I was still able to work from this bucket truck. It's a wheel chair for arborists. I wouldn't recommend this for fine pruning, but for street clearances I was able to get the job done in record time. The electric company provided the truck. It was fun. But I had spiders in my bucket, eek!

Maytenus boaria, Mayten Tree

2010-11-12T18:42:00.000-08:00

The Mayten Tree is a beautiful tree from Chile. It has a gorgeous pendulous branching that looks like a waterfall. BEWARE!!! Although this tree looks spectacular it has the most aggressive suckering roots that I have ever come across in San Francisco. If you plant it in your garden you will have suckers popping up all over the place, possibly in your basement. Also, if you prune this tree too aggressively it will sprout back even more aggressively. So prune lightly; make fewer, larger cuts. Be prepared to have to prune often to keep the desired shape.

Pictured below is a street tree that I pruned in the Castro Dist. As you can see it looks a bit unkempt. I cleaned it up and also planted some succulents in the tree well.

AFTER PRUNING:

Tree of the Week, Magnolia grandiflora

2010-08-06T18:03:00.002-07:00

*Botanical Name: Magnolia grandiflora (grandi means big and
flora means flower, just in case it wasn't obvious enough).

**Family: Magnoliaceae

***Common name: Southern magnolia (most common in SF), bull- bay, evergreen magnolia.

****Native environment: Virginia to central Florida, Arkansas to Eastern Texas (left).

*****Height: up to 90 feet. Wiki says the biggest ones recorded are in Louisiana; one tree has a trunk18 feet in circumference at breast height; another tree is 114 feet tall. Wow!!

******Likes rich, moist, well drained soil. They do NOT do well if the soil constantly wet. They can tolerate shade when they are younger, but need full sun later on in life.

*******Many cultivars; some with gigantic flowers (up to a foot across), some slow growing dwarf trees, various leaf sizes, colors, and shapes. My friend Waiyde says he has one that has huge, dark purple flowers.

*******Magnolia grandiflora is an evergreen, but they still drop leaves and make a mess. The last time I pruned a magnolia street tree this little old man kept telling me to cut it down completely. He groaned and groaned about it so much we nick-named him "Mona". He said he was forever having to sweep the sidewalk. Poor Mona; not a very happy man.

Southern magnolias are very common in San Francisco as street trees. They have large, waxy, dark green leaves that are sometimes yellow/orange and fuzzy underneath. The waxiness make them very tolerant of pollution in cities. The big, usually white blooms are quite fragrant. Yum.
It is also the state flower of Mississippi and Louisiana and was an emblem of the Confederate army in the Civil War. It is also Mississippi's state tree.

Here are a couple of small magnolias we pruned over on Vicksburg in Noe Valley. I did the pruning, Kent did the ground work. Kent is great at securing the ground, making sure that I am aware of pedestrians walking below. We don't want anyone getting hurt.

before: after:

Little Metrosideros in the Sunset

2010-08-06T17:37:00.000-07:00

Here is what a tree looks like a few years after it's been badly topped.

It looks like a bit like a shrub on a trunk (right).

Well, we trimmed this poor little tree the best we could. This will be a process of restoration that make take several years (above).

We also planted the tree well with succulents and filled it in with decomposed granite. The bank manager, Rosemarie, was really happy with the outcome. I love planting tree wells.

before

after

Black Acacia

2010-08-03T21:59:00.004-07:00

The goal for pruning this tree was crown reduction.

Judy had wanted to plant an Acacia baileyana (Bailey acacia), but she ended up with an Acacia melanoxylon (black acacia). Oops. These are two very different trees. Judy had wanted a small tree...

The baily acacia is fast growing and relatively short lived (20-30 years). They have feathery leaves and grow only 20-30 feet.

Leaves and flowers of the baily acacia (below). There is also a variety called purpurea, with purple leaves.

The flowers of the trees in the genus acacia are usually little yellow puff balls (left). Many people in SF complain about their allergies to the pollen. They create a big mess as well...

Acacia bailiana is a very pretty tree for the first 10 years or so. Afterwards they become a bit rough looking. The branches die back strangely so that there are lots of right angles, making them look like a bit like a fuzzy tumbleweed.

The black acacia leaf is lanceolate, meaning long and narrow, but wider in the middle (below).

They also grow very fast and very tall. This is not the tree to plant if you have electric wires overhead, or if you are Judy and you simply want a small tree. The bigger ones here in San Francisco are around 50 feet. In the wild they can get to be as big as 150 feet tall.

I love pruning these trees because they can be made to look spectacular through natural layering. They can look like big, puffy, green clouds.

Judy wanted us to reduce the size of her tree since she didn't want a large tree in front of her house. We reduced it as much as possible without making topping cuts. She would have liked to have been brought down further, but that would have been bad or the tree.

In order to keep the costs down we kept the design element to a minimum. We worked strictly on crown reduction, not layering.

Here is an after shot of Judy's tree. As you can see, we successfully reduced the crown while also giving the tree a nice shape.

Kent did the ground work and I did the pruning. Kent's job is also to occasionally give me an "eyeball." It's difficult to see the overall shape of the tree when I am inside the canopy. Kent can tell me if he sees anything sticking out that disrupts the line. He can also assure me that I am finished. Kent studied art in school and he has a good eye for detail.

I've been studying the acacia tree as I'm here blogging away. It's a very complicated tree.

Family: Leguminosae. That is the pea, legume, or the bean family. The third largest family of flowering plants behind Orchidaceae and Asteraceae. 730 genera, 19,400 species.

The word acacia is derived from the word akakia, which is the name given by a Greek botanist. The name is derived from the Greek word akis means thorn.

The following is ripped off from Wikipedia:

"Acacias are also known as thorntrees, whistling thorns or wattles, including the yellow-fever acacia and umbrella acacias. Until 2005, there were thought to be roughly 1300 species of acacia worldwide, about 960 of them native to Austraila, with the remainder spread around the tropical to warm-temperate regions of both hemispheres, including Europe, Africa, southern Asia, and the Americas. However, the genus was then divided into five, with the name Acacia retained for the Australian species, and most of the species outside Australia divided into Vachellia an Senegalia."

That's enough for now. Soon it will be Tree of the Week and I'll ply you with more.

Too big for its pot

2010-08-03T21:08:00.000-07:00

I was called out to trim a large, 30 year old Pittosporum undulatum. From below I could see that there was some disease.

When I climbed into the canopy I found out that the disease was much worse than it seemed.

There was die back along the main branches. There were also mushrooms. Mushrooms in trees is a sign of rot on the inside of the tree.

The reason why is that this tree got too big for the pot in which it was planted. 30 years ago it was just a little tree. Today, it is massive.

We didn't want to remove the tree right away. A most trees do, it has a lot of sentimental value (as well as aesthetic). Laura planted it herself 30 years ago when it was just a tiny sapling; when it was the only tree on the block. She had no idea that it would become so large. The tree will have to come down some day. We'll keep an eye on it for now. Fortunately Laura also planted a sidewalk tree so that the space won't be completely bare when the Pitto is gone.

These Pittosporums are very stubborn trees. They can take a lot of abuse, but we don't want to risk a branch falling on a pedestrian on thesidewalk. So we removed some major limbs, reduced the weight of the diseased branches and made a commitment to monitor the disease over the next few years.

We also pruned a New Zealand Christmas Tree that was in the sidewalk. I did the pruning and Kent took care of the ground work. Here are some before and after photos:

2010-08-03T20:23:00.000-07:00

Here I am contemplating the big job before me.

The client wanted this Dodonea in Pacific Heights to be hedged by hand, not with sheers. This would give it a softer edge. She also wanted her hedge to have steps that would coincide with the steps in the garden. Check out the result.

Kent, my trusty groundsman, proved himself to be the best groundsman ever today. One of the biggest challenges on this site was to navigate the extensive garden. We didn't want to damage any of the beautiful flowers. Kent made sure that nothing in the garden was damaged and that we left the area looking just as pretty as when we had found it. With all those little snips there was quite a lot of cleanup. Somehow he was able to have just about everything back in order by the time I was finished pruning.

This garden was not street level. There were 30 stairs between the garden and the truck where we had haul all debris. The next day Kent was quite sore from having to walk up and down three flights of stairs all day. What a trooper!

Dead Plumb

2010-08-03T19:45:00.000-07:00

It was an easy removal. All we had to do was push it over. You can see the girdled, circling roots that eventually caused the tree to die. You can also see the GIANT adventitious root that had grown out of the trunk. This tree died because it wasn't planted properly. It had been planted too low. Also the circling roots in the root ball had been left uncut.

2010-08-02T21:33:00.000-07:00

Here is a lovely example of crown reduction and natural flow pruning. I worked on this Pittosporum undulatum in the Richmond District on 19th Ave and Balboa.

It really looks almost like I never pruned it at all.

From the inside of the canopy it made quite a difference.

Tree planting tips

2010-07-14T11:11:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I was called in to look at some sickly plants.

The first tree, really a shrub, had failed at the base of the trunk. It looked like it had rotted out. Upon closer inspection I found an old irrigation head that had been engulfed by the trunk. I've seen this happen before. Landscape companies sometimes install irrigation heads too close to newly planted trees and shrubs. If they go unchecked then years later they can become engulfed. If they over water, the constant moist soil can cause root rot, sometimes even trunk rot. Eventually parts or all of the tree or shrub will die.

The second tree, a Thuja occidentalis, stood about 8 feet tall with a DBH (diameter at breast height) of 3-4 inches. The leaves had a grayish hue and looked dry.

The problems stemmed back from the time of planting.

The tree was still strapped to the original nursery stake. I gently rocked the trunk back and forth. I could see the outline of the original root ball moving in the ground. The outline was the size of a nursery pot. Not a good sign for a tree that has been in the ground for two years.

I probably could have picked it up out of the ground and put it right back into the pot it came in.

Here are some important planting tips:

1. When you plant a tree be VERY aggressive with breaking up the root ball. Don't be shy. People often think that the roots are like the intestines of the tree. They aren't. They are more like the underground branches and can be pruned just the same.

Confined a tiny pot in the nursery, young tree roots grow in circles and become woody. Unless they are pruned they will stay that way and possibly never grow normally.

So break up those root balls. Making clean cuts, cut the woody circling roots and spread out the succulent roots so that they flay outward. This encouraged them to grow normally, like in the direction of spokes on a bicycle wheel.

2. Make sure the root flair is above the soil level. Always plant high. Too high is better than too low, especially in soil with a high clay content.

Often trees in nursery pots have buried root flairs when you get them. Before you plant, make sure you locate the root flair. The root flair is the area where the trunk flairs out to the roots. When I plant trees from out of big nursery pots sometimes I have to remove as much as 6 to 8 inches of soil off the top. So don't be surprised at how deep you may have to go. Just be gentle not to damage the trunk.

The root flair should always be above ground. It shouldn't be buried by mulch either. So plant high, plant high, plant high. This goes for just about all plants. As far as I know, the only plant you should plant low are tomatoes.

3. When you plant a tree always remove the original stake that runs along the trunk. Replace it with two or three stakes placed just outside the root ball. Tie the tree up so that it moves slightly in the wind. This promotes strong, healthy roots.

4. The first thing you should do after planting is water. It's a good idea to build a berm around the tree (or shrub) so that the water doesn't just leech off into another part of the garden. I like to water by putting a garbage bag in a 15 gallon nursery pot, filling it with water and then poking a small hole in the bottom. This allows for a slow drip to deeply penetrate the roots without leeching. You can use a hose, running on low, but it's super easy to forget to turn it off. Do this three times a week, rain or shine.

http://www.fuf.net/treeCare/earlyTreeCare/watering.html

Tree of the Week

2010-07-14T09:15:00.001-07:00

Thuja occidentalis.

Some common names are Arborvitae, Eastern Arborvitae, Northern White Cedar.

The above picture is a Thuja I pruned over on Laguna Honda.

They come in many shades of green, yellow, or blue green with differing shapes and sizes. Sometimes the leaves can hang horizontal, vertical, or in waves. They are quite popular in San Francisco, especially in formal gardens. They are often hedged, sculpted, or sheared.

The name Arborvitae means tree of life. Rich in vitamin C, early European settlers and native Americans used it to fight scurvy.

Naturally occurring in Canada and the northern U.S., these shrubs are food for deer, hares, and porcupines. They are preferred building material for log cabins because they are good insulators and resist rot. They are also used as fence posts and siding for boats since they withstand water damage.

Since they naturally occur in both highlands and lowlands. You can find them growing out of rocky cliffs, on a mountain clearing, or in the ecotone (transition space) between a bog and a forest. They like calcium rich soil.

If you want them to thrive in your garden, plant Thuja where they can get full sun. Also keep the soil somewhat moist. Still, don't over water. Just don't let the soil get too dry for too long.

These are very hardy trees with few pests.

Thuja are very slow growing. They can get up to 50 feet tall given the right environment, but it may take 50 years. They can live for up to 1000 years.

Here is a photo of a famous, 300 year old Arborvitae in Minnesota, growing on the shore of lake superior. It is sacred to the Ojibwa Indian tribe who named it Manidoo-giizhikens, or Little Cedar Spirit Tree.

Here's a link to where I got much of my information on the Arborvitae. http://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/plants/tree/thuocc/all.html

Silk Oak and High Voltage

2010-07-03T00:21:00.000-07:00

NW corner of Douglass and 24th Street.
Client: Noe Valley Association.
Climbers: me, Marcello, and Sean.
Ground Crew: Kent, Mikey, and Serge.
Common name: Silk-oak (not a true oak).
Botanical name: Gravillea robusta.
Family: proteaceae (yes, the same family as those plants with the crazy, alien like flowers).

Above: a picture of the leaf and flower

Below: a picture of three of the five trees before pruning.

Silk Oaks, Gravellia robusta do not belong under high voltage power lines. They grow to be 60-100 feet (usually only 60 feet). They grow really really fast. There are several examples of topped Gravellia robusta throughout San Fransicso. There is one at 18th and Valencia also under high voltage power lines.

Topping street trees, meanwhile, is illegal. PG&E does it all the time to trees below power lines. I guess they get away with it out of necessity. Many times there are ways of removing branches that encroach on power lines without topping. But this requires a more delicate touch. I have been called upon many times to clean up trees messed up by PG&E.

The best thing to do is plant small trees under power lines.

It's not just PG&E that tops trees. Business owners do it so that people can have a clearer view of their signage. Apartment owners do it becasuse it is cheaper than paying an arborist. Homeowners do it because they don't know any better. If you see tree being topped you should report it immediately. Speaking up is the only way to stop our city trees from being destroyed.

How do you identify a topped tree? How do you report the crime? click on the following link:
http://www.fuf.net/getInvolved/topping.html

This was a long hard day of tree trimming. Serge, a powerhouse on the ground, got sick. He went home after a few hours. That left it up to 5 of us to finish the job. It was also incredibly windy after lunch.

A branch knocked over the pedestrian barrier which shattered a 10"x11" pane of glass in a restaurant window. During lunch I found a company to fix it. It took him 20 minutes to fix it then he tried to charge me $220. Highway robbery.

These trees were in rough shape. The prior topping led to giant vertical suckers, rotten stumps unable to compartmentalize, and elongated lateral growth. There were several signs of branch failure. The goal was to reduce the height, remove rotting stubs and failed systems, and remove long laterals overhanging the street. Of course, we wanted to make them pretty to look at too.

These trees are in a high risk zone. They overhang a bus stop and several busy shops. If a limb were to fall, the stakes would be high.

I think we really pulled it off. Although they don't look anything like they would in nature, they now have an urban elegance. Most importantly, they are much safer for the public.

tree killers

2010-07-02T00:30:00.000-07:00

I got a call from a contractor who was in a panic. His backhoe had damaged the trunk and root system of this poor Monterey Pine. A concerned neighbor had alerted the department of urban forestry. They in turn did an inspection of the work site and determined that the tree was a hazard and must be removed. This contractor wanted me to reinspect the tree and see if there was a possibility that the tree could be saved.
Despite the lean, the damage, the prevalent high winds, and the giant hole in the ground I thought with a some reduction in wind sail the tree would probably make it. I made the contractor promise that the backhoe would be removed immediately. I also said that I would do a more thorough inspection of the roots and clear away the root crown and buried surface roots. If I were to discover large, damaged or cut roots, especially on opposite side of the lean then I would stop work and advise removal. My friends at the Dept of Urban Forestry backed me up as long as the owner would take full liability.
The next day I returned to the site, prepared to excavate and remove some large limbs. The backhoe was still on site and still digging. There was now several more yards of dirt on top of the root zone. The neighbor showed up too. He pointed out exactly how much dirt had been removed. He was very concerned.

Then I looked at the neighbor's house. And that's when I realized that the tree actually blocked his view. At this point I am starting to wonder what is really at stake.

I called the contractor. I told him I didn't want to be in the middle. It seemed that too many people wanted too many different results. I said I wanted to break my ties and that I wouldn't write a report verifying that the tree could be saved. I didn't want to be the fall guy. hehehe

He asked if there was anything he could do for me to make me change my mind. Was that a bribe? I told him that next time he should consult an arborist BEFORE he does construction in the vecinity of a large tree.

The Lorax

2010-07-01T23:30:00.000-07:00

A few years ago my good friend Frank Eddy planted a Eucalyptus nicholii in front of his house in the Mission. His plan: to make it look like on of the trees from Dr Seuss's The Lorax. Kinda like a poodle. Kinda surreal.

So we're doing a little experiment with tree shaping. Fun. Today, step one, we laid out the basic structure: several short lateral limbs, like lion tails. Six months from they should sucker out and we should get a little more poof. They grow very quickly.

Big Buckeye in Back

2010-07-01T22:16:00.000-07:00

Georgia called me to say, in her charming New York accent, that her tree needed some care. She lives with her family on the top of Duncan Street, above Noe Valley. The street is pretty bare except for a few, young trees planted in the last few years by the Friends of the Urban Forest (www.fuf.net). What a surprise! In her back yard was this giant California Buckeye, Aesculus californica. As you can see from the picture, it takes up the entire back yard.

Well, Georgia wanted me to raise the canopy so that she could walk under the tree. I suggested that we remove the Bay Tree on the right since it is a distraction. But the Bay Tree started growing at the same time she was pregnant with her daughter. She wanted to keep it for sentimental reasons. That's the most wonderful reason to love a tree. So instead we decided just to give it a trim.

The main reason why Georgia called me was to remove the lower branches that over hung the neighbors property in the back. They nicely complained about the leaves in the their yard. The neighbor to the left, however, was a different story. She instructed me not to listen to her at all. "If she wants anything she can come talk to me herself!" As you can see from the above picture, Lefty took a big chunk out of the tree.

Fortunately we were able to restore the tree's natural dome.

Fun Fact: the California Buckeye loses its leaved in the summer, not the fall. This is a survival technique so that the tree can make it though the dry season. Without all the leaves the tree can withstand summer drought. Georgia says that usually by now all the leaves are gone. But since we've had such a rainy spring the tree still has all of its leaves. If you look closely you can see some of the leaves beginning to change color.

Olive Tree in the Marina District

2010-04-01T23:51:00.000-07:00

Today's goal: natural flow pruning and shaping. The client wanted to have a more refined looking tree, not so wild as olives like to grow. So we managed to give it shape while still keeping some of the natural, wild olive feel.

We spent a lot of time cleaning up stubs left over by the last tree pruner. Stubs left on a tree from pruning are unhealthy for the tree. It takes a lot longer and a lot more energy to heal these wounds. A proper cut heals much faster. The faster a tree heals its wounds, the better chances it has defending itself against disease entering through the wound.

Many professional tree trimmers leave stubs because it takes longer and is more difficult to make proper cuts. Time is money. Proper tree care is a good investment. My clients care about the health of their trees. They want their trees to last so that future generations can benefit from them as well.

We started getting rained on at the end of the day. I love these spring storms.

Pollarding in March?

2010-04-01T23:47:00.001-07:00

That's me, where I like to be, happy in a tree.

Yeah, okay, it's a little late to be pollarding. Normally we pollard in the winter, after the trees lose their leaves. That way you don't have to look at the funny, leafless shoots all winter long.

A little comparison. . .

2010-03-05T00:27:00.000-08:00

Trees Company pruned the tree on the left, not the one on the right. The people who own the tree on the right decided to hire the lowest bidder instead of Trees Company which charged more for its quality workmanship.. Both trees were the same species, same age, same size and pruned within a few weeks of each other. Both are Lophostemon confertus located on 18th street in the Castro.

You be the judge. . .

Ficus, Podocarpus

2010-02-10T22:37:00.000-08:00

Today Fetter and I worked on a couple of Ficus microcarpa and a Podocarpus gracilior.

Let's start with the Ficus trees. The goal was to do light, natural flow pruning. We want these trees to grow big, but look natural. As you can see it doesn't look like we did much at all. I like it when you look at one of my trees and you wouldn't know that it had just been pruned.

These are fairly young Ficus street trees. It's my guess that they have been in the ground for no more than 5 years.

You don't see many young Ficus trees here in SF. Back in the 80's Ficus were all the rage because they adapt to our harsh urban conditions. 10 years later San Franciscans found out that they rip up sidewalks. So they don't plant them much any more, except in Pacific Heights. Your guess is as good as mine. . .

Back in 1990-91 there was a freak cold spell here that wiped out thousands of Ficus trees. There are still many in the Mission, especially along 24th Street where the weather is about 10 degrees warmer than the rest of the city.

The fruit and reproduction systems of species in the genus Ficus are unique. Each species of Ficus has an associated species of agaonid wasp. Ficus species can only be pollinated by their
associated agaonid wasps and in turn, the wasps can only lay eggs within their associated
Ficus fruit.

The Ficus is everywhere. It is a terrible nuisance in parts of the world where the pollinator wasp has appeared. In Hawaii, Florida, Bermuda, and South and Central America it is an invasive weed. Animals and birds spread the seeds everywhere. They often grow epiphytically, starting off as a seed dropped in the crotch of another tree. They will eventually choke out the native host tree.

The images below are the before and after pictures of the Podocarpus gracilior.

Laurel, Eugenia

2010-02-09T22:30:00.000-08:00

The priority was to prune the tall Eugenias away from the neighbor's windows and make them shorter. The Laurel, meanwhile, had some dead branches and was messy. It needed some layering and some shape.

Laurel? Prunus laurocerasus.
What's in a name?
Prunus, means plum. It's the same genus as the plum, apricot, cherry, and almond.
Lauro means "laurel" and cerasus means "cherry." Which is why it is commonly called the Cherry Laurel.

Often used as a hedge. Sometimes used for MURDER.
see below:
www.thepoisongarden.co.uk/atoz/prunus_laurocerasus.htm

The Cherry Laurel, unlike its tasty fruiting cousins, is poisonous, though it smells like almonds. It used to be used to flavor milk. After too many accidents with children this practice ended.

Big Ol' Eugenia Hedge

2010-02-08T19:45:00.002-08:00

Me an Fetter were trimming this big puppy for about 5 hours. We are starting a yearly maintenance schedule in order to try to restore this hedge after many years of topping. It was full of stubs and suckers. It was also much wider on the top than at thr bottom and had very little inner green.

Inner green is the green leaves that grow toward center of the tree. It is important for tree health. The sugars produced by these leaves have less distance to travel to feed the trunk and roots.

I often see trees that have been striped out of their inner green. It is a common practice among some tree trimmers. Stripping away the inner green also creates disproportionate weight on the branches. They become heavy on the ends and more prone to break. We call this "lion-tailing."

Eugenia is yet another Australian tree in Myrtaceae family (Eucalyptus, Corymbia, Lophostemon). There are three botanical names: Eugenia paniculata, Syzygium paniculatum, and Eugenia myrtifolia. I'm still trying to figure out why. If you have any idea, please comment.

Eugenia can get very tall, very quickly, up to 50 feet. With the exception of the one at the Eagle Tavern, all of the Eugenias I've seen in San Francisco are infested with the psyllid Trioza eugeniae (a small winged insect about the size of an aphid). The psyllid causes the leaves to look blistery and distorted. They can look really sickly

In 1991 the Center for Biological Control at the University of California at Berkeley went in search of a natural enemy of the Eugenia psyllid. They discovered a parasitic wasp in the genus Tamarixia in Australia where Syzygium paniculatum naturally occurs. It was initially released in the Eugenia hedges at Disneyland in July 1992. While a success story in southern California, the little wasp can't survive San Francisco's cooler climate. We have to rely on pesticides.

People sometimes make jelly out of the pink berries. I've never tried it.

Lophostemon confertus (formerly Tristania conferta)

2010-02-03T16:25:00.000-08:00

The client wanted a major reduction. This poor tree had already been abused by a hack tree trimmer. They left many large stubs which had sprouted vertically making the tree extremely dense and unnatural looking. Normally one shouldn't remove more than one third of the canopy when trimming a tree. This tree is an exception. Our goal was to reduce the size and restore a more manageable structure. In a few years, after two more prunings, this tree will look perfect. It can take several years to restore a topped tree.

Lophostemon confertus is another Australian import often used as a street tree in San Francisco. It is commonly called the Brisbane Box, also Brush Box, Queensland Box, and Vinegar Tree. I call it a Brisbane Box. It's in the same family as the Eucalyptus, Myrtaceae, but has a denser foliage and gives more shade.

This tree isn't very showy, but the shape can be interesting if pruned naturally. They are quite disease resistant, but don't like constant wind.

Here is a picture of its persistent fruit capsules. Persistent means that it doesn't fall off the tree.

These trees grow very tall and fast. They can grow to be 60 t0 90 feet. Unfortunately they often get planted under power lines and then get butchered, topped.

A very pretty flower, but not very noticeable.

Big Corymbia ficifolia

2010-02-02T22:36:00.000-08:00

Today we pruned a 50 foot tall Corymbia ficifolia. This tree, native to the far southern coast of Western Australia is in the Myrtaceae family as are Eucalyptus. Up until 1995 this tree was called a Eucalyptus ficifolia. It was one among 80 Eucalpytus to transfer to the new genus Corymbia.

Corymbia...from Latin, corymbium, a "corymb" referring to floral clusters where all flowers branch from the stem at different levels but ultimately terminate at about the same level.
ficifolia...with leaves resembling those of the genus Ficus.

Corymbia ficifolia is a very common street tree in San Francisco. They grow very well here in sandy soil where the summers are dry. Birds and bees love them. People, one the other hand often complain about the mess from the many red flowers. I've seen a lot of these trees butchered. They bounce right back, however. The suckers that grow after topping often break due to their weak attachments and they heavy fruit. These heavy nuts are numerous and quite a task for the clean up crew.

This particular monster is in the back yard of a very fancy San Francisco Marina Mansion. It took six of us nearly as long to set up protection, clean up the mess, and break down the protection as it did to trim the tree. We filled two trucks full of brush.

It think this is a great example of natural flow pruning. To the untrained eye one would not know the tree had been trimmed at all. Yet it has a great shape, light shines through the tree, and there is still good screening from the apartments in the background.

Hollywood Juniper

2010-01-31T00:17:00.000-08:00

So the owner of this beautiful, old Juniperus chinensis (Hollywood Juniper, right) wanted it removed. My goal was to make it smaller and more sculptural so that the owner would want to keep it. It was a challenge. I would have liked to kept the height and taken a lot less out of it.

But I felt like if I had left it thick the owner would eventually have it completely removed. I also did a quickie on the Corymbia ficifolia on the left. That poor tree had been topped badly. Both of the clients are much happier. For now, the trees have been saved.

I wish I had a "before" picture

2010-01-19T23:36:00.000-08:00

Here we are on Laguna Honda, in SF.

I pruned this tree several months ago. Unfortunately I never took a before picture. I guess I didn't think that it was going to turn out so fabulous.

Previously it was a massive blob that totally blocked the pathway, the canopy went right to the ground.

The clients are ecstatic. They've hired me to be the grounds keeper for the entire property. My next undertaking is to remove the front lawn and replace it with ground cover. More to be revealed. . .

Buried Root Crown

2010-01-14T17:47:00.000-08:00

See this tree over here on the left. It's a baby Incense Cedar that was planted on a gorgeous estate in San Rafael. But there's a big problem with this picture. The tree has been planted too low. I can tell just by looking at the way the trunk goes straight into the ground. There should be a flair at the bottom of the trunk where the trunk becomes the roots.

This part of the tree is called the root flair, or the root crown. It should never be buried by soil or even mulch. Otherwise the tree can have all sorts of problems. The bottom of the tree trunk can actually rot.

Here on the right I have started to dig down and expose the root crown. It is buried about 8 inches under mulch and soil. Left unchanged, this tree will become weakened and very susceptible to pests and disease.

Here on the left I have exposed two adventitious roots. Sometimes when a tree is planted too low it get's confused and sends out roots from the trunk. These adventitious roots are rather large. One should not confuse an adventitious root with the root flair.

In the photo on the left you can see the root flair, well below these two adventitious roots. Sometimes it is okay to remove the adventitious roots. In this case, since they are so large, I've decided to leave them.

In San Francisco the number one reason for tree pest and disease problems is a buried root crown. I see it all the time. One reason is that trees grown in pots are frequently sold with buried root crowns. Before you plant you should always excavate the trunk, locate the crown, and place the tree in the ground to that the root flair is just above grade. I've had to remove the top 8 inches of soil in a nursery pot just to expose the root crown.

Another reason I see trees failing because of buried root crowns is a raised garden planted around a tree. Gardeners and designers often aren't aware of the importance of the root crown. They think it would be nice to build a raised bed around a tree. This can look very nice, but not so nice when the tree gets sick. It may take several years for a large tree to react. But by the time the tree has an obvious reaction, like dieback or fungus or discoloration, it may be too late.

Last thing ya'll should know. Never plant low. Especially in soil that has a heavy clay content.

Monterey Pine, yearly maintenence

2010-01-14T17:24:00.000-08:00

Here is a lovely tree, it's shaped like an Italian Stone Pine, or Pinus pinea, but it's actually a Monterey Pine. CCTD has us maintain this tree once a year since it is in a very small back yard in the Marina District. I think the before and after pictures speak for

themselves.

Italian Stone Pines are also called Umbrella Pines for their shape.

They are very common in San Francisco. They are originally from the Mediterranean and have been used for their pine nuts since the Roman Empire. They can get up to be 100 feet tall, but are usually about 30-35 feet.

This is an Italian Stone.

Here's a good link for Italian Stone Pine: http://hort.ifas.ufl.edu/trees/PINPINA.pdf

Big Pine, high voltage

2009-12-26T20:30:00.000-08:00

This has been the third year I've worked on this site as an employee of Christopher Campbell Tree Design (CCTD). I'm grateful for having learned about safety from Mr. Campbell, the safety master.

Campbell has shown me the importance of call and response, always keeping a clear line of communication between the ground crew and the climbers. The more eyes the better. Safety always comes first.

If you look closely or click on the picture at the left, you can see me working above the high voltage lines. It was very important that my tie in point be strong, that I communicate all of my actions loudly and clearly, and that I have complete control over every cut that must come down. You don't want to mess with high voltage.

Four years ago I was working in Pacific Heights with CCTD. I was on the ground crew. Suddenly there was a giant explosion. All of us could feel the electricity in the air. All of our climbers came whizzing down to the ground. 200 yards away another crew was working over the high voltage lines. Someone had accidentally dropped a branch and it must have connected the positive and the negative lines. Fortunately no one got hurt. PG&E had to come out and restore the power.

Black Acacia needs regular maintenence

2009-12-26T15:48:00.000-08:00

This is a tree that has been regularly maintained to preserve the neighbor's view of the marina. Today me and Fetter spent about three hours getting this tree back into shape.

We brought it down about 10 feet. We'll be back next year to do it all over again.

Chris Fetter, to the rescue

2009-12-26T15:02:00.000-08:00

Chris Fetter is an artist and a fine tree trimmer. He's been working for Campbell Tree Design for 6 years now. Check out his amazing work here. This picture to the right shows the tree before.

On the left is the artist carefully choosing his next cut. Fetter's wearing a scowl, but he's one of the most sensitive tree trimmers in all of California.

To the right is the completed work of art. Notice the natural flow. Notice that the tree still has a beautiful shape without looking too manicured. Notice that you can even see some of the interior structure. Fetter has opened up the outer canopy to allow light to enter the inner canopy. This makes for good long term heath and structure. The tree also looks graceful and contained.

Many Eucaliptuses on a hill

2009-12-20T19:56:00.000-08:00

Today was a hard, but fun day for me. The goal was to create a better view for the client and make the hillside safer in case of a fire.

Since we were working on a hill one of the biggest challenges was moving the brush. We used ropes to help us get up and down the incline. Pictured to the right is Jordan, modeling the rope system. He's Christopher Campbell's newest crew member.

These trees were approximately 40 foot Eucalyptus globulus, Blue Gums. These fast growing trees from Australia can grow up to 90 feet in their first ten years. After15 years the growth rates slow down significantly.

The fast growing Blue Gums are one of the four main trees used as the original overstory for the creation of Golden Gate Park. The other three are the Torrey Pine, the Monterey Pine, and the Monterey Cypress.

Check out this link: http://trees.stanford.edu/ENCYC/EUCglo.htm

Instead of climbing up and down each tree, I jumped from one canopy to another and then reattached my line in the new tree. I love doing that. I feel like a monkey.

Here's a picture of Mikey felling some of the trees. He loves his chainsaw.

We needed to thin out the grove for fire safety too. The bark of the Blue Gum is thin and sheds easily. It's also highly flammable.

Here's a before and after picture...

The client lives up on the hill. Here's the view that he's been
missing. . . what a beautiful winter day in San Francisco.

It took 8 hours and 8 guys and three truck loads of debris.

7 Privets

2009-11-20T03:12:00.000-08:00

The boys and I had our work cut out for us today. The job: make seven overgrown Privet street trees into a lacy canopy. I put together a fine crew. Ricky, Sean, and I pruned while Mikey and Surge supervised the ground. Despite the loud generator noises from the PGE truck, we had a good day.

Me in a Monterey Cypress

2009-11-17T23:00:00.001-08:00

Here I am in a Monterey Cypress in Alamo Square Park in San Francisco. Matt Colugiari took the picture. It's posed. We went out with the sole purpose of getting a picture of me for publication. So, I'm not actually working in this tree.

Monterey Cypress, Cupressus macrocarpa are among my favorite trees to climb. They are really tall, and really sturdy. We never work on them when it is damp. Working in a damp Cypress can spead Cypress Canker. So if I'm working in a Cypress it's probably a beautiful day and I can see for miles.