HEAD 'EM OFF AT THE TOP

These trees were just plain hacked. No rhyme or reason behind this job except maybe to just cut anything that looked like it needed it. Apparently there was a height standard because they've all been chopped back to pretty much the same height. They are in the back yard of property that abuts Branciforte Creek here in Santa Cruz, California. The address of the property is on Market Street. This brutalization probably wasn't a view clearance. There isn't anything to look at across the concrete creek. If anything, you'd think they would want to obscure the view. In a cruel way, this kind of lop-job will produce a lot of adventitious growth, suckers, and those suckers will block the view at least temporarily. The suckers come from latent buds just under the bark of the tree and are activated by a sudden loss of canopy like this. So the tree produces long fast-growing suckers to provide leaf material to produce photosynthetic mechanisms to keep the tree alive. These suckers will eventually grow too long and their weight often times makes them break off easily. I can't remember for sure but these trees look like Chinese elms. If you are interested in an actual identification let me know. If someone paid for this, they were cheated and the neighborhood will never be able to enjoy these trees growing in their natural growth habit without spending money to have a ISA certified arborist restore them and I doubt that will happen with the current owner.

Photo taken with an iPhone

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MACHETE AND LOPPER HACKING

Believe it or not this tree came back time and again from this brutalizing. If you look just to the right of the tree you will see another one hacked the same way. It's a fruitless mulberry at the corner of N.Branciforte and Fairmount street. It's also a street tree and pruning of any kind is prohibited by ordinance. Each year the tree would get hacked back and each year I would talk to neighbors about it and inquire as to who did it. No one seemed to know. Last I looked the tree in the background finally disappeared. This is one of more egregious examples of a tree of shame. 

OH MY! YOUR SKIRT'S UP TOO HIGH!

This is two photos of the same tree.

Maybe this doesn't look too bad at first glance. The tree looks healthy. Lots of greenery at the top. So why is it in the Shame Hall of Fame? Well it's a Coastal Redwood. The tallest trees in the world. The tallest of which is growing in northern California up near Eureka. Forestry Service won't say which one but they know. I know. I know. It's a conspiracy....yeah right. Back to this tree. It's in the Seabright part of Santa Cruz and obviously a landmark in the neighborhood. A well-established tree company did this work. They probably called it "skirting" which the correct term but in this case it is mutilation. I understand the owners wanted to remove the tree because it is "messy". Can't argue there. Redwoods are among the messiest trees around here. They drop duff at the rate of an inch or more a year.

Since there's a Heritage Tree Ordinance in Santa Cruz, their application for removal was denied so they did the next worse thing by having all of the lower two  ⅔ of the foliage removed. This means the "food and moisture" collecting parts are greatly diminished. Redwoods are very hardy trees but they can't stand this kind of hacking very well but it will survive. The botanical name for Coastal Redwood is Sequoia sempervirens. Sempervirens in latin means "everlasting". The tree produces in three ways. Seeds, root runners, and suckers. That's how they can sustain themselves.
Besides the well-being of the tree being compromised, the aesthetic value is destroyed and the natural growth habit has been altered for the rest of its existence.  What a shame.

A STAND OF STUB CUTS

This one was a real shocker. I was on my way to my favorite eatery when I gasped at the sight of what happened to these trees! I immediately pulled over and took out my camera and tripod. I could not pass up the opportunity to capture this brutalization someone called pruning. I examined the large bole cuts and found no evidence of rot or disease. The trees were quite healthy. They were Acacias! Hardy species.

As I set up, two little girls walked into the photo to be a part of it. I guess they just wanted their photo taken. One of them finally asked why I was taking the photograph. I explained that I thought the trees had been badly mistreated and they agreed. Said they didn't like it when it was happening.  

The entire grove was subsequently removed but not until it stood for a couple of months along one of the busiest streets in town. There has been no subsequent replacement of any of the trees. I wonder why they were removed.

I CAN'T GET ESPN. THERE'S A TREE LIMB ON THE CABLE.

An excellent example of poor "line clearance" hacking done for utility companies. P.G. & E. as well as A.T.&T. and Comcast sub-contract to companies that have specially trained units that do nothing but keep trees planted in the wrong place from interfering with their lines. When I write they are specially trained I don't mean in the proper ways to prune but to do it without injury and keeping the wires/cables operating. Unfortunately there are many examples just like this all over the place. Instead of trying to prune and shape the tree, in this case an Acacia, the hackers just stub cut anything that had foliage that was or might contact lines the company that hired them wanted to protect. The companies that do this are paid by contract. The faster they get the job done the more money they make. I have only seen rare cases where conflicting trees are pruning according to published standards. Careful tree selection is the most effective way to prevent this from happening. Select a tree that is suited to grow under power lines. P.G. % E. has an excellent program and information to help select the proper trees. I think this tree was just abandoned. The property owners didn't want to have the tree removed and once again, subjected their neighborhood to an unsightly and unnatural looking tree. Time is money. Aesthetics is another matter.

GIT YORE TREE OFFA MY PROPERTY

This is a classic case of "cutting your tree off to spite your view". I have seen this more times than I'd care to think about. Here's my story about what happened here. Property owner on left didn't like the limbs, duff and shade impacting their yard. So maybe the owner of the tree refused to pay for removal or pruning. The neighbor on the left decided to take control so the tree was sheared back to the property line. It's legal. Property owner's have possession of the airspace above their property so cutting all the limbs over their property is part of that ownership. However I have found at least two problems come into play. Even though there is nothing initially illegal about doing this type of pruning a second issue comes into play. If the tree dies or falls onto the owner's property and causes damage the "legal" pruning becomes a problem. The final insult is that the people that live on the property on the left have to look at a very ugly and unnatural tree appearance. I would advise not doing this although it happens quite often.

FIRST THEY KILLED IT THEN THEY KILLED IT

This WAS a Monterey Pine. It's located in Santa Cruz County. The "Live Oak" area. It's an area of unincorporated land between the City of Santa Cruz and Capitola, California. This tree was probably growing in the front yard of a house that was removed when the land was developed. There are ordinances protecting large trees but the County rarely enforces them. So I suspect this tree may have been left to avoid any controversy. 
The area was graded and trenched for utilities. Cuts for foundations and sidewalks. Heavy equipment parked and rolled over the root system. The tiny front yard effectively cut off all means for the tree to gather moisture or nutrition. 
It looks as though the tree was "skirted" as the limbs began to die. What was left of the crown left the tree with little chance to produce any photosynthetic process especially since the entire root system was destroyed. 
So here it is. A lone sentinel. The last remnant of the local forest. Left to die an indignant death. Actually it has been dead for quite a while. 
Monterey Pines seldom fall over when they die. They tend to disintegrate straight down. Hence the limb removal. I would suppose the home may be rented and the owner of the property either can't afford to remove the tree or just doesn't care. I'm a retired municipal arborist and this sort of thing makes me angry and sad. I post photos and do my diatribe in hopes that some will pass by and read about my concern and learn to take better care of the history/legacy that trees in our society represent.