Tree Services in Fair Oaks, California

Fair Oaks sits on high ground above the American River, which runs the length of its southern border, and the name still suits the place. Native valley oaks and interior live oaks crowd the older streets around the Village, then the land breaks off at the Fair Oaks Bluffs into gravel bars and streamside growth along the parkway, from Sailor Bar by the Hazel Avenue bridge downstream to the old Fair Oaks Bridge. The 1895 colony sold land in 5-, 10- and 20-acre tracts for citrus, almond and olive orchards. Hard freezes later finished off most of the citrus, but olive and almond trees from that era still pop up in backyards.

Property here varies more than the map suggests. Custom homes along the bluffs come with slopes, large native trees and little room to park equipment. Phoenix Field, built in the 1980s after the old airfield closed, has newer houses and smaller trees planted close together. Around the Village, older cottages, narrow streets and a famous flock of roaming chickens share space with some of the oldest oaks in town. Semi-rural parcels still have room for a horse or a few orchard rows, along with big trees that were never shaped with a house in mind. The usual trouble spots are oaks leaning toward a drop-off, olives grown into fences, dead limbs over driveways and roots crowding pool decks and foundations.

On the bluffs, the planning often takes longer than the cutting. Trucks may have to stay at the curb, and wood is usually lowered on ropes or lifted out by crane so nothing rolls toward the parkway below. Fair Oaks is unincorporated, which means a native oak above the county's size limit needs a county permit before removal, and digging under its canopy for a pool, addition or utility trench is regulated too. Old orchard olives and almonds fall outside the oak rule, but many are brittle and overdue for thinning. Trees perched on the bluff edge take the hardest winter wind, so it is worth having weak forks and heavy limb ends looked at before the rainy season.