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10th Anniversary Retrospective: More about the SF tree maintenance program: A personal story

October 11, 2018 by Bonnee Waldstein

To celebrate the Glen Park Association Website turning ten years old, we are reposting some of our favorite stories from the last ten years.


It’s not often that you post a story of general interest and live it out yourself a couple of days later.  That’s what  happened with the post linking to the SF Chronicle story on confusion about the City’s tree maintenance program.  Here’s a link to the original Chronicle story.

I came home the other day, feeling pretty good about getting my flu shot and remembering to take my 20% discount coupons into Bed Bath and Beyond. Then I came upon an unexpected sight in front of my house.

With no warning, the tree between my and my neighbor’s house was being pruned by SF Public Works. Only a couple of years ago, we shared the cost ($800) for a professional arborist to trim the tree.  With the mantra “The Worst First” playing in my head, I approached Joseph, a SFPW worker, to find out why our tree was chosen for maintenance so soon.  It was neither dead nor failing, and it wasn’t encroaching on any power lines — some of the reasons street trees are given priority in the program.

As was described in the Chronicle, a detailed census has been done of the 125,000 street trees in the city.

You can enter your address and find your tree on this map. I found ours:

Joseph explained that the trees are tracked by a grid system. Neighbors are notified if a tree has been given priority for maintenance or removal.  If a crew is on a grid that has priority trees in it, they’ll check their lists to see what other trees on the grid might be listed for tending, since they’re in the area anyway. It’s more efficient than hopping back and forth to different areas to maintain a tree here and there.

This was the situation with our tree.  In comparison to many other trees, ours was kind of OK, but many branches were drooping due to their weight.  The lower hanging ones were blocking visibility to stop signs, and trucks were brushing against them as well.  I wasn’t aware of all these hazards; it took the vigilance of the tree crew to recognize them.

I went online to the SFPW website to see what I could find out about our tree, a New Zealand Christmas, common in SF and one of the recommended street trees by Friends of the Urban Forest. This page has a navigable grid map where you can find the trimming schedule for your tree.

Sure enough, I found our tree.

It’s in Prune Grid #228, in Active status, with an Estimated Prune of 2018.

If a resident prefers to maintain their tree/s privately, they can opt out of the city tree maintenance program through the 311 system.

In our case, we were very pleased with the results of our “surprise” tree trim, and the money it will save us in the future.

Just like the earlier part of my day, things were just falling into place.

 

 

 

Filed Under: Uncategorized

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IMPORTANT UPCOMING DATES

Upper Noe Neighbors Community Meeting Wednesday, May 21, 7 p.m.
Upper Noe Recreation Center auditorium
295 Day Street
Agenda


San Francisco Department of Public Works logoDPW Love Our City
District 8 Cleanup Day
Saturday, June 7, 9 a.m. to afternoon
Learn more and sign up here


 

Logo Center for Creative Exploration

The Center for Creative Exploration
Explore all the Colors of the Rainbow
one-day workshop
Saturday, June 7, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
300 Chenery Street
Learn more and link to registration here


Weeding Party
June 21, 10 a.m. to noon
100 block of Arlington at Charles
Join neighbors on the North end of the Cut to keep down the weeds and beautify top to bottom. Tools, lunch and good company provided.



Stop the bleed logoStop the Bleed Workshop
Thursday, June 26, 6-9 p.m.
St. Aidan’s Church
To learn more, click here


Monthly cleanup on the Greenway
First Saturday of the Month (usually)
Click here to learn more


Friends of Glen Canyon’s
Glen Canyon Habitat Restoration
Every third Saturday 9:30 a.m to noon
Sign up here

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Questions? Call 415-239-4007


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Join the Glen Park Association and help promote our community’s interests. Together, we can secure improvement funds, publicize neighborhood concerns and strive to speak as one voice on neighborhood and city issues.

Membership in the Glen Park Association is only $10 annually and can be purchased online.

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Glen Park Association is in Glen Park.
5 hours ago
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Tuesday was a star-studded day at Glen Park BART when Seth Rogen and Olivia Wilde spent much of the afternoon filming a new romantic comedy titled “The Invite” in the station.

For more on this story..Check out the article by Elizabeth Weise on the Glen Park News Blog:
“Seth Rogen & Olivia Wilde filming at Glen Park BART”

Visit Link in Bio or our website: www.glenparkassociation.org
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Tuesday was a star-studded day at Glen Park BART when Seth Rogen and Olivia Wilde spent much of the afternoon filming a new romantic comedy titled “The Invite” in the station.

For more on this story..Check out the article by Elizabeth Weise on the Glen Park News Blog: 
“Seth Rogen & Olivia Wilde filming at Glen Park BART”

Visit Link in Bio or our website: www.glenparkassociation.org
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Glen Park Association is at San Francisco Public Library Glen Park Branch.
4 days ago
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Photos and Fun courtesy of the Glen Park Library!
It was a great turnout at the Glen Park Library Open House on Saturday May 17th!

Thank you to all who attended and a big thank you to Glen Park Branch Library Manager Darren Heiber and his staff for a fantastic day!! 🙌🏽

San Francisco Public Library Arion Press | Artist Books Museum of Craft and Design Rafael Mandelman 🏳️‍🌈 #glenparklibrary #arionpress #museumofcraftanddesign #glenparksf #sanfrancisco #InCommunity
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Photos and Fun courtesy of the Glen Park Library! 
It was a great turnout at the Glen Park Library Open House on Saturday May 17th!

Thank you to all who attended and a big thank you to Glen Park Branch Library Manager Darren Heiber and his staff for a fantastic day!! 🙌🏽

@sfpubliclibrary @arionpress @museumofcraftanddesign @rafaelmandelmand8 #glenparklibrary #arionpress #museumofcraftanddesign #glenparksf #sanfrancisco #incommunity
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Coyote Yipps
Friends of Upper Noe Recreation Center
Glen Park Neighborhoods History Project
Open SF History
Sunnyside Conservatory
Sunnyside History
Sunnyside Neighborhood Association
Tramps of San Francisco
Upper Noe Neighbors

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