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Tree Trimming in Shingle Springs

We serve Shingle Springs too. It's a Highway 50 town a few exits past El Dorado Hills. Phone (530) 255-2773 and we'll book a tree pro who knows these foothills.

A town named for a machine

A horse-powered shingle machine near the springs gave the town its name, says Wikipedia. It turned out up to 16,000 shingles in a day. It grew out of a gold rush camp and is now California Historical Landmark number 456.

The 2020 census counted 4,660 people. The CDP sits at about 1,421 feet, and Wikipedia says it's roughly 40 miles from Sacramento. A Maidu village named Bamom stood nearby before the miners arrived.

Sticking to the winter and summer oak rules keeps you out of trouble.

Mistletoe in the oaks

You see mistletoe all over the foothills. UC IPM says birds spread the seeds, and big old trees get it first because birds like high perches. Clumps can grow to 2 feet across.

The Master Gardener talk says mistletoe shouldn't kill a healthy tree, and it can be pruned, but it usually grows back. UC IPM says for real control, cut the branch at least a foot below where the mistletoe attaches. Just cutting off the green clump won't do it.

It also warns that healthy oaks can handle some mistletoe, but their branches are more likely to break. So mistletoe near a roof is worth a look.

Pruning cuts that heal

UC says to use a three-cut method for any limb thicker than about 2 inches. First an undercut a foot or two from the trunk, one third of the way through. Then a top cut a bit farther out. Then the stub comes off at the collar.

This keeps the bark from tearing down the trunk. It matters on oaks, where torn bark opens a way in for decay.

Lot sizes and wires

Some Shingle Springs lots are small and some are big acreage. A limb that touches the wire to the house is the owner's job to keep clear, PG&E says. Only trained line-clearance workers should trim near lines, and everyone else stays 10 feet back.

Plan the year, not the week

Trees in the foothills do best on a steady schedule. A winter visit for the oaks that drop their leaves, a summer one for the evergreen oaks, and a fall look at the pines. Three short visits beat one rushed panic call after a storm.

Price ranges

Fixr's range for big trees runs $150 to $800 at 30 to 50 feet, and $300 to $1,800 for the tallest. HomeYou says dead wood removal is $176 to $428. These are national guides.

People and places

The town grew from 4,432 people in 2010 to 4,660 in 2020. It covers about 8.2 square miles, so the lots are spread out. The town is the headquarters of a federally recognized tribe of Maidu and Miwok people, per Wikipedia, and Coloma and Placerville are both less than 15 miles away.

Spread-out lots mean longer drives for a pro. They also mean more trees per owner. A single acre can hold a lot of oaks and a pile of dead limbs from last winter.

If that sounds like your place, ask for a whole-yard look instead of one tree at a time. It gives you a plan, and you can spread the work over a few seasons so that each tree is cut at its best time.