18
THE DAVEY BULLETIN
|
May/June 2021
Davey's East Bay office undertook a massive pruning project
to preserve a magnificent valley oak in Pleasanton, California.
"I've never seen an oak of this size or caliber in someone's
backyard or property. I could tell that this tree needed
some serious canopy reduction," said Dale Schvaneveldt,
assistant district manager. "We needed to take weight off,
bring it back to proper laterals and needed to make sure
we were not making cuts that were too big and wouldn't
callous over. It was a very large tree and we wanted it to
live as long as possible."
Caring for this tree proved labor intensive and a multi-day
job because most of the work was done through climbing,
he said. In addition to the climbing, there was a lot of
groundwork because of the amount of deadwood in the tree.
"With a tree that size and the amount of climbing needed,
it's pretty easy to get fatigued," Schvaneveldt said. "I
checked in with the crews throughout the day to make
sure they were taking breaks, not overdoing it and able to
think straight to plan out their next move."
One of the biggest challenges with this tree was a broken
stem that was roughly 20 inches in diameter. It was stuck
in the tree and was overhanging the property line fence.
The crew members were able to successfully remove it
without damaging the fence.
Another purpose for the project was clearing out a
stormwater runoff ditch that was full of debris from this
tree. The goal was to complete the project before heavy
rains came, so the ditch was cleared.
When it comes to tackling a huge tree or any large project,
Schvaneveldt says it never hurts to have a second opinion,
no matter how experienced you are.
"When I saw this tree the first time, I was overwhelmed
just by the amount of work that needed to be done and
its size," he said. "I had multiple people look at this tree to
come up with a plan to tackle it and make sure I had enough
time allotted to do this job safely. It helps to reassure
yourself and helps you put together a proper bid."
DAVEY'S EAST BAY OFFICE PRUNES MASSIVE VALLEY OAK
The client was so pleased with the work that they took to Twitter
to compliment the crew for their efforts and share this photo.
"I looked up the Twitter post. I was happy to see how amazed they
were and how happy they were with how the project turned out,"
said Dale Schvaneveldt, assistant district manager, East Bay office.
Photo credit: Deborah Kurata.
MISSION
