Towering redwood trees make quite an impact and are beloved by residents and visitors alike. Robust and long-lived, these large trees suffer comparatively few issues, though they’re not problem-free. What are the challenges with caring for redwood trees on your San Diego, Sacramento, San Francisco, or Seattle property? Be on the lookout for these red flags.
With over 4 million acres burned, this year’s historic fire season has been truly terrifying, leading to 31 lives lost, countless forced evacuations and massive property losses. As smoke continues to linger in the air throughout the SF Bay area, this situation has brought the need for fire mitigation measures into stark focus. While preventing all future fires is impossible, essential tree maintenance techniques could offer your business or neighborhood grounds protection, potentially reducing the likelihood and severity of wildfire damage. What fire safety techniques for trees and plants will safeguard your commercial property against fire risk?
At Arborwell, our ISA certified tree care professionals service Bay Area and Seattle city forests of all shapes and sizes. The trees growing beside HOAs and apartments, near retail centers, corporate campuses, and parks, endure a lot of abuse. They suffer from their proximity to large buildings and swaths of pavement, damage from people and cars, drought and weather extremes, poor drainage, and untended pest infestation and disease. When city budget cuts leave city trees without the arborist care they so desperately need, it leads to serious consequences for both plants and people
The High Cost of Severely Neglected City Trees
The Arborwell team understands that neglecting the care of city trees costs far more in the long run than providing routine maintenance. Most of the emergency maintenance calls we attend to present far more in liability risk than proper tree care. Are these tree care issues putting your business at risk?
Dying, disease, and pest-ridden trees pose a serious safety risk. Left unaddressed, they can fall on vehicles, buildings, and pedestrians, leaving property owners and city governments liable for damage and injury.
Fallen limbs from trees with heavy overgrowth can damage power lines, causing outages. They can also block roadways, obstructing access.
Unattended roots can crack and lift sidewalks and roadways, necessitating costly pavement repairs.
You can avoid these emergency issues with a minimal investment in timely care. At Arborwell, our plant health care experts can ensure your trees remain healthy and sustainable, benefitting the community.
Maximizing the Benefits of City Trees
Trees are a key part of a happy, healthy urban environment. City trees clean the air and water, offer welcome shade, and reduce stormwater runoff. They serve as a habitat for area wildlife, combat the urban heat island effect, and provide a relaxing, natural ambiance for residents to enjoy. If only for a bit of routine maintenance, they could live much longer, healthier lives, increasing in value as they age.
Keeping Up with Tree Care Responsibilities
Our knowledgeable arborists know that city trees don’t require intensive maintenance. In fact, they need less care as they mature. With a thorough evaluation, our experienced staff can develop a long term, proactive plan for your city trees with your budgetary needs in mind. We offer comprehensive services, including:
Pruning trees to reduce risk from fallen limbs
Cleaning up following storm damage
Clearing branches or trees that block or pose a hazard to structures and utilities
Removing and replacing dead trees
Quickly identifying and treating diseased or pest-ridden trees and mitigating spread
Addressing nutrient deficiencies
Removing invasive species
Improving species and age diversity of the trees on your grounds
You require preventative health checkups with your doctor annually. Trees need the same level of proactive care. Is it time to schedule a primary care visit from one of our ISA certified arborists? Contact Arborwell Professional Tree Management to schedule an evaluation and start caring for the city trees on your San Jose, San Francisco, Walnut Creek, Seattle, Palo Alto, Menlo Park, Hayward, or Oakland property today.
Palm trees are an essential part of the California atmosphere, inspiring daydreams of fun in the sun. Maintaining the good looks of palm trees on your commercial property, however, is anything but a leisurely endeavor. Though routine maintenance is essential for picture-perfect palms, palm tree care is complicated.
Most Palm Tree Species are Not Native to the Area
Despite the many varieties of palm trees in California, only the California fan palm – also known as the desert palm or Washingtonia filifera – is native. All other species are imported. Other non-native species, such as the date palm introduced by Spanish missionaries in the 18th century and other species brought here for palm gardens created by Europeans in the mid 19th century, are non-native, imported into the region as immigrants arrived in the US.
Each Palm Tree Type is Suited to a Certain Climate
There are over 2,500 palm species worldwide. Only 11 are native to North America. They thrive in a range of climates from deserts to rain forests, each requiring specific growing conditions. Imported species, such as Mexican fan palms and Canary Island date palms, often lack essential nutrients common in their native growing environments. These deficiencies make the trees more prone to stress and disease. Even Native California fan palms present unique maintenance challenges in the current California climate. Fan palms need a great deal of water in the soil to thrive, which currently drought-prone regions across the state struggle to provide.
As many native fan palms, planted during regional beautification efforts in the 1930s, reach the end of their 75 to 100-year lifespan, some local governments are no longer replacing the trees. This is partly due to climate-related water shortages, and also to the threat of pests such as the red palm weevil, which are making it difficult for palms to survive. For these reasons, there is a movement toward the re-introduction of native, drought-resistant plants and trees.
Palm Trees Present Many Maintenance Challenges
It may be tempting to tackle routine maintenance tasks yourself, until you consider the height of your trees. Palm tree maintenance is not for the faint of heart, including inexperienced property owners and uninsured lawn care services. Proper care requires a thorough knowledge of arboriculture and safety practices. With help from a trained arborist, you can avoid tree care injuries, alongside issues associated with improper pruning, such as:
Over-trimming that can weaken palms, making them more prone to storm damage
Improper landscaping around palms that can result in mechanical root damage from trimmers
Paving or using rocks around palms, which increases temperatures, burning roots, and reducing water/nutrient absorption
Delayed maintenance that increases fire risk and the risk of injury and damage from falling fronds and trunks
Suffocation by palm fronds due to improper pruning technique (pruning from below) and septic arthritis from palm tree thorn injuries
Excess germination of nuisance palm saplings on your commercial property
Prune your palms properly and safely with help from the Arborwell team. Contact us at to request an estimate for regular palm tree maintenance for your Hayward, San Jose, San Francisco, Oakland, Livermore, Palo Alto, or Walnut Creek property today.