Your Neighborhood :: Tree Pruning, Tree Growth

There are approximately 18,000 street, park and public facility trees in the City of Newark. The City's Tree Management Program goals are to provide the City with a healthy tree population; safe curb, gutter, and sidewalk surfaces; and improved street drainage.

The Street/Park Tree Pruning program develops and maintains a safe and healthy tree population and minimizes the City's liability within the public rights-of-way, parks, and public facilities by pruning trees on a four year cycle. The pruning program includes pruning trees that may be susceptible to damage during severe winter storms on a more frequent basis. The City has been divided into four tree pruning areas. Each area is pruned once every four years as part of an annual pruning contract. City staff performs safety and hazardous pruning (i.e., branches that are broken, branches interfering with traffic sign and signal visibility, and branches interfering with pedestrian and vehicular traffic) on an as-needed basis. PG&E prunes trees away from hazardous high voltage lines only. Utility service line clearance to customers is not considered hazardous pruning and is not included in their work. Utility service line clearance to customers is provided as a part of the City's annual pruning project if the trees are within the public right-of-way (not on private property).

The Curb, Gutter, and Sidewalk Repair/Replacement program identifies and corrects potential liability problems where tree roots have caused serious curb, gutter, and sidewalk displacement and/or breakage. Newark City Council Resolution No. 5504 outlines the guidelines and procedures for this program. Locations meeting the guidelines are corrected as a part of the annual repair/replacement project.

The Curb and Gutter Grinding program maintains water flow in the street gutter where tree roots have caused the curb and gutter to displace and water to pond. Grinding improves water flow and minimizes the long-term costs associated with removal and replacement of curb and gutter. Some standing water may still exist after the grinding. City staff perform the curb and gutter grinding work during the winter season. The grinding process may be repeated in subsequent years until the curb and gutter require replacement.

The Root Pruning/Root Barrier Installation program protects desirable street trees and minimizes the long-term costs associated with the removal and replacement of curbs, gutters, and sidewalks. Root barriers reduce the possibility of pruned roots reconnecting, and directs new root growth away from the curb, gutter, and sidewalk. Only trees that are causing minor concrete damage will be root pruned. Parkway strip improvements, such as concrete constructed by property owners, will be removed to facilitate root pruning. The removed parkway improvements will not be replaced unless the property owner had obtained an encroachment permit for the parkway improvements. This work is combined with the annual curb, gutter, and sidewalk repair/replacement project.

The Sidewalk Grinding program eliminates potential tripping hazards. Sidewalk grinding is more cost effective and attractive than asphalt patches. This program is performed on an "as needed" basis by City Staff. The City performs a 4-5 year comprehensive survey to assess potential sidewalk tripping hazards. If this survey produces a substantial number of locations requiring grinding, a contract is awarded to eliminate the potential tripping hazards.

The Tree Removal/Replacement program minimizes the long-term costs associated with damaged concrete, replaces trees which produce excessive debris, and maintains the aesthetics of a healthy and mature tree population. An annual project is awarded to remove and replace undesirable street trees. The residents of Newark have the option of rejecting the replacement of their street tree.

The Dorman Tree Spray program protects street trees and minimizes the long-term cost by destroying scale insects. Aphids and other non-scale sucking insects which cause trees to drip during the summer months are not controlled by this program. These non-scale insect problems will not destroy a tree and are just considered a nuisance - residents are advised by staff to use non-restrictive insecticides for non-scale insect control. An annual contract is awarded to treat trees prone to and/or infected with scale insects.

The Stump Removal program minimizes City costs by removing only hazardous tree stumps which have been left in-ground as a result of hazardous tree pruning, or tree removals caused by storms, accidents, vandalism, and structural weaknesses. Some stumps will be flush cut and not removed because they are not a hazard or due to their proximity to restricted hardscape areas (building structure, utility lines, or other similar situations). An annual stump removal project is awarded to remove qualifying stumps.