Full flush of spring

Now we're in the thick of it. The full effects of last year's drought are becoming evident. I feel like I've been looking at nothing but stressed-out trees and lost causes. What a shame. Note to selves, people - get your irrigation systems set up NOW for the coming summer. Soaker hose - it's cheap!!

One side-effect of the vast number of trees needing to be removed is that I've had plenty of occasions to pull tree permits lately. Or at least inform people that they're going to need one. Our new Heritage Tree ordinance is catching a lot of people by surprise, although I'm not sure why it should.

The new ordinance protects - and defines as a "Heritage Tree" - any tree that measures 24" diameter at breast height (4.5 ft. off the ground) or larger. For residential properties, any tree 19" or greater was already considered protected, and for commercial properties, trees 8" or greater were - and are - protected (and YES, condo-complexes and apartment buildings, you are considered commercial). The "Heritage Tree" thing just adds an additional layer of protection on to trees that were already protected. For the vast majority of you, the procedure for obtaining a removal permit will effectively be the same as it used to be.

To our builders and developers: Now, more than ever, it is critical that you have a pre-construction consultation. Too many times over the last few months, I've been called to a site that has been red-tagged for violating tree ordinances. And it's so completely unnecessary! The down-time can cost you thousands of dollars and then you'll be subject to the immediate costs associated with mitigation. You can prevent this by simply making the initial investment in a consultation before you begin. Once you unwittingly trench through those roots in the critical root zone, you can't un-sever them. Do you even know where the critical root zone is? Because it's worth a lot of money for you to educate yourself. Or simply hire someone who knows.

Here's a link to the actual ordinance:
http://www.ci.austin.tx.us/trees/downloads/final_heritage_ordinance.pdf

Enough of my diatribe. I have an early-morning red-tag situation to go look at.......