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Tree Trimming in Garden Valley

Northwest of Camino, near the far end of our map, is Garden Valley. Dial (530) 248-6054, give your road, and say a little about the trees. A pro who already works out that way gets the job.

Johntown

A valley with a few surprises

Garden Valley once went by Johntown, after the sailor who struck gold there, says Wikipedia. It sits on Johntown Creek at 1,949 feet. The Sons of Temperance put up its first community hall in 1856.

Local kids go to the Black Oak Mine Unified School District. That name hints at the trees of these foothills.

One soil note from Wikipedia: Garden Valley, like many foothill towns, sits on ground with heavy asbestos levels, and paving in 1986 aimed to tame the dust.

Yard work near oaks

Soil work and your oaks

Lots of Garden Valley folks do yard work that touches the ground, like grading, paving or adding soil. Oaks don't love that. The UC Master Gardener oak sheet says not to cover the crown by backfilling soil up to the trunk. It also says not to use herbicides around oak trees.

Pruning itself doesn't dig anything up. Still, tell the pro about any ground work you have planned near a big tree, and ask them how to protect the roots.

Black oaks

Black oak pruning

The UC Master Gardener oak sheet says black oaks grow between 2,000 and 6,000 feet and lose their leaves in the cold months. They also drop acorns in a deep, shaggy cup. Deciduous oaks get pruned in winter.

Garden Valley's 1,949 feet puts you right at the low edge of that range. So you may have a mix: black oaks, plus other species like interior live oak. UC says the interior live oak is an evergreen, and evergreen oaks are pruned in summer.

Not sure which you have? Look in December. The one with bare branches is deciduous. The one with leaves is evergreen. Then match the month. The pro can double check.

One more oak habit worth knowing: UC says black oak acorns sit in a deep, shaggy cup. That makes them easy to tell from other oaks when they fall in autumn. Pick one up and look.

Winter also makes mistletoe easy to spot. UC says the green clumps are readily seen in bare canopies. See our mistletoe page.

Prices

What it costs

Use the national ranges as a start. Homeyou lists a small tree at $92-$248 and pruning at $248-$548. Fixr lists a medium tree at $150-$450. The hourly rate is $60-$80 at Thumbtack and $86-$148 at Homeyou.

Driveway length and slope make a difference. So does what's overhead. Your real price comes from the pro.

A December look

Learn your oaks in winter

Winter shows you what a tree is. Pick a clear day in December and walk the yard. Note which oaks are bare and which keep their leaves. Look for green clumps high in the bare ones, and for dead twigs at the tips.

Write it down by tree: bare or green, clumps or none, any crack. That one page tells the pro nearly everything, and it tells you which month each tree gets its trim.

Close by

Nearby

Close by are Coloma, Shingle Springs and El Dorado. See winter dormant pruning, or the Camino home page.