Tree Service in Castro Valley, CA

Castro Valley tree service often means working on a slope. The community's eastern hills are the headwaters of the San Lorenzo Creek watershed, cut by Crow, Cull and Palomares canyons, and Lake Chabot sits in the northwest. Many homes are on hillside lots where the tree is below the house, above the neighbor, or both. That changes how a tree comes down.

Rigging on a slope

On flat ground a log can be dropped. On a hillside it can roll. We take trees down in controlled pieces, lowering wood on ropes to a landing spot where it cannot slide into a fence, a creek bank or the house below. Brush is carried or winched up to the chipper at the street. It takes more time, and that is reflected in the estimate, but it keeps the job safe and the slope intact.

A postwar housing stock

Castro Valley was known for chicken ranches in the 1940s and 1950s, then grew fast as a commuter suburb. The population went from 4,145 in 1940 to 37,120 in 1960. Census estimates put the median year built at 1966, with about 38 percent of homes built in the 1940s and 1950s. Joseph Eichler built some of his Bay Area homes here too. Trees planted with those homes are now 60 to 80 years old, and many were never pruned for structure.

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Eichler-era yards

Mid-century homes often have glass walls facing the backyard and a tree that was planted to shade them. Those trees now tower over flat or low-pitched roofs, where leaf litter collects and drains clog. Clearance pruning keeps limbs off the roof and lets more light into the house without taking the shade away.

Creek-side trees

On lots near the creeks, look for leaning trees, exposed roots along banks and trees that have lost soil on the downhill side. Bank erosion and saturated winter soil are a bad combination for a heavy tree. Sometimes removing weight from the canopy is enough. Sometimes a removal, leaving the stump and roots in place to hold the bank, is the better choice. Work in or near a creek channel can involve other agencies, so ask before cutting there.

County rules for unincorporated areas

Castro Valley is unincorporated and governed by Alameda County. The county states there are currently no countywide ordinances regulating trees on private property in unincorporated areas, so most backyard pruning and removal does not need a county tree permit. Street trees and other trees in the public right-of-way are a different matter: the county's Tree Ordinance protects them, through the Public Works Agency's Tree Program.

Stumps on slopes

Grinding a stump on a hill takes care, and sometimes it is better to leave it. A stump on a steep bank holds soil. Where you want the space back, we grind it out and backfill. Call (925) 966-3413 to talk it through.