Tree Services
Tree Planting
"The best time to plant a tree was twenty years ago. The second best time is now." We are committed to preserving our urban forest and part of that commitment is planting new trees. Throughout our parks, medians, and right-of-way we have tree sites reserved for new trees to be planted.
Tree Assessment
A tree assessment is performed on every city tree before work begins. This assessment can be as simple as the tree worker on site developing a game plan before beginning a crown raise. Or as in-depth as using sonic tomography to develop a two-dimensional image of the inside of a tree to fully evaluate its health and look for potential future hazards.
Tree Trimming
A key part of maintaining a healthy urban forest is trimming trees to keep them safe and give good structure. We trim trees based on three criteria; safety, visibility, and clearance. These three attributes are used to evaluate the need for trimming. The City of Escondido follows all ANSI standards when trimming trees.
Tree Removal
An unfortunate part of managing an urban forest is the necessity for the removal of trees. We do not take the removal of trees lightly and only do so when necessary. Generally, we remove trees because they have died, are damaging infrastructure, or show a pattern of failures that could cause a risk to public safety.
Emergency Response
24 hours a day, 7 days a week, public works staff is standing by ready to respond to any tree emergency that causes an immediate risk to the public. These emergency responses vary from single limbs that have fallen into the right-of-way to 80' trees blocking multiple lanes of traffic.
Training
All Escondido Public Works employees are trained in the use of chainsaws and chippers. This includes a basic class on proper pruning practices as found in ANSI standards. The tree crew has additional training related to aerial lift trucks, working at heights, rigging, felling techniques, and additional chainsaw training.