FREE COLE VALLEY TREE CARE

If you have a STREET TREE in San Francisco's Cole Valley neighborhood, I'll be happy to provide free tree pruning and tree care.  Please take me up on this great offer (but remember, it's only for street trees - no backyard trees)!  Here are the details:

• Your tree must be a street tree in Cole Valley.  It must be within the area bounded by Belgrave on the south, Clayton on the east, Frederick on the north, and Willard on the west.  Why only in Cole Valley?  Well, I'd love to do more, but I live here, and I'm only one person! 

• What tree care services are provided?  Structural pruning (removing dead or damaged branches, thinning out over-dense branching structures; or pruning away lower branches to raise your canopy).  I can adjust or remove stakes or ties -- or provide bracing or stakes if that's necessary.  I can also give advice on plant diseases or pests that your tree may have.  

• How can I make the arrangements?  Call me at (415) 759-5118, or email me at sulliva1@ix.netcom.com.  Leave your name, address, and phone number, and I'll contact you  to set up a time. 

• Who are you?  I'm Mike Sullivan, a 15-year resident of Cole Valley.  I'm a certified arborist, and have been a board member and volunteer of Friends of the Urban Forest for many years.   I've helped organize several FUF tree plantings in Cole Valley in recent years, planting over 150 trees in the neighborhood.  

• Your tree must be small or medium-sized.  Generally, this means trees that aren't more than 15-20 years old or so, depending on the tree species.  I can also work on larger trees, but I have no climbing equipment, so I'm limited to what I can reach..

• Does it cost anything?  Nothing.  I'll do it for free.

• What about the debris?  Well, there's one catch.  I may or may not have a truck available to carry away debris.  If you have a trash can, I'll clean up the mess and get the debris into your can. 

• Why am I doing this?  Well, if the City handled tree care in San Francisco's neighborhoods, I wouldn't have to.  But the City of San Francisco doesn't prune ANY of the trees in Cole Valley -- they only handle trees on major streets, like Haight, Geary and Van Ness.   So someone's go to do it.  I care a lot about the neighborhood and our environment, and this is a good way to make a positive difference in a very neighbor-helps-neighbor, San Francisco way. If this works in Cole Valley, I hope this will grow into a city-wide solution that will help keep all of San Francisco's trees healthy and beautiful. 

• Why should you trust your tree to me? Well, I'm a trained, certified arborist -- I know what I'm doing.  I live in the neighborhood, and I'll spend the time to do a loving, careful job.  I'm flexible about your level of involvement -- if you want to be there while I work, that's fine.  If you want to tell me what you want, that's OK, too.  I'll also give you references and addresses in the neighborhood where I've worked on  trees in Cole Valley, so you can see our work before you decide.

• Interested in Cole Valley generally?  Check out the Cole Valley Home Page.