(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 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)

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.