>> there's no fee for the permit to plant a tree. and the reason being is that the board of supervisors decided they wanted to subsidize that, this is a purple leaf plum tree and a popular tree in san francisco. we see it all over the place, as you can see it has dramatic purple leaves, it is very popular because of the springtime flowers, but it is not a very long lived tree, people are very drawn to it, but we need to remind them, that it is more of a short-term investment, with a tree like this, the other challenge that we have, is that, there are fruited, fruiting varieties, planted in san francisco and as you can all see, there's fruit on this tree. and, the problem with that is that the fruit, will drop and it can actually, become a pedestrian hazard. it is kind of hard and can smash in the sidewalk and become

slippery and the fruits themselves are rolling. we generally don't encourage fruiting trees in the right of way. there are nonfruiting trees, we ask people to consider that, if they're interested in this tree. >> we have all sorts of stuff happening here. and none of it good. >> does anyone know about this? >> yes it is, that's an olive, for whoever doesn't have a mike. >> if you look across the street, you can see what this tree probably used to look like. unfortunately, this is an example of what i described earlier, where you top the tree, you cut the top off it. a lot of times, when people see a tree there is really overpruned and you see new growth, and you see the tree is coming back, it is recovering. but actually, this is a sign of

stress growth, the tree is trying to get as much leaf can nappy as it can. it is producing these sprouts. these won't be healthy or well attached to the main trunk, what they mean, if it ever gets big enough, they're going to start breaking off and they're going to fall on cars and the sidewalk, and they're going to be a hazard. >> what probably happened here, would be my fes guess is somebody pruned the tree in order to allow them to see their sign or something and they considered this to be acceptable tree pruning, which doesn't meet anybody's standard. >> that's right. >> this is caused by someone doing this deliberately to the tree. >> in san francisco, this is illegal and you can be fined for it. and the fine, the minimum fine is $1,489. >> does somebody file a complaint for that to happen? >> they don't. manyifies get issued because we learn about them from a complaint.

our office does not have enough staff to be inspecting every tree every year. and when they're privately maintained trees, it is harder for us to inspect them. if we get a call from the public or driving around doing our regular work and we see it, we can issue a fine to that property owner. and that, that sign often will end up also going to a hearing where they'll try to appeal to the decision, but it is a real problem, as i said, not only does it damage the tree, but it creates these may not espn burdens down the road and city crews end up having to respond to that. >> what this is is a removal of the tree without removal permit is the ultimate bottom line here. >> they were probably. >> very effectively killed it. >> that's the problem. the good news is, you have to replace it, when people get a permit to remove a treer, they're almost always required to replace it, or have to pay for the tree.

>> now across the street, we have a row of -- row of olives in good condition. >> they're in good condition, the nice thing about, olive trees is now they come in nonfruiting varieties, so they can be a street tree as well. and they're very long, lasting trees. so, we, we, they're a great street tree. and they have a nice can nappy, which sometimes can be a challenge for the property owner to maintain, but ultimately it gives you a lot to work with. >> sometimes people are concerned because the signage above the store may be hidden by the tree can opy, and there's a conflict with commercial uses. >> that's right. in commercial &s we will find trees that are more upright. we help them plant away from the signs, it is nobody's best interest for them to be overpruned or the property owner to have a genuine commercial

enterprise they're losing their signage for. >> any questions? >> >> you talked about using a lot of australian trees, the olive, the mediterranean, the -- we have other mediterranean trees that we like? >> we to. i'm still trying to get the city to send me to itly to do more research. thank you. so far that hasn't resulted in anything but there are some italian tree that is we can plant, italian buck horn, and in some cases with the right conditions italian cypress can be planted. there are a variety of mediterranean trees. >> look at this. yeah. this is done. brand new. >> this is the same vandal that did the other one. >> here's a tree that hasn't been pruned to death, that has had other problems that led to its demise. >> that's right.

this is a tree that again, if we can lurble i, if you look around, sometimes you can learn a lot of information about a tree. you can see, at the base of this tree, probably, that when it was young, i'm sure, somebody backed into it, when they were trying to get ow of their parking place and caused pretty serious trunk wound down here. so this side of the tree, we've seen a lett of wounding, there's a lot of deadwood inside the tree. what has happened is now because of that, there's not enough healthy wood, the tree is starting to split apart, which we see on the side, that's essentially killing the tree. it is almost, dead, we got a tiny flush of green, this is an evergreen species, the same species as the tree behind you, which is a prive et, and it is not going to come back. >> to they need a tree removal permit to remove even a dead tree? >> that's right. we have to send a inspector out. if you're not familiar with

trees, you may not realize it is not just leaf off right now. and we send out somebody and if we confirm the tree is dead, we'll issue the permit. believe it or not, unless it is a eminent hazard we, go through public note physician, we'll go through 15-day notification, so the public knows the tree is going to come out. it is rare for us to get protests on a dead tree, but it happens. my hearing two months ago, the try did not have a single leaf on it and had been that way for close to ann mr., we still got a protest on it. so -- it happens. >> okay, we're going to walk up to market street, where we have a whole different program going. >> let's get in the shade.

>> so we're on market street, we have a whole tree program here that, involves, the -- basically mono culture planting here. what do we have here. >> these are london plain trees. they're planted all up and down market street, as you get further down, you know there are probably two rows of these trees planted in a box style. it is a mono culture, but it also really helps set that sense of place. so, as long as we don't plant them exclusively throughout the city, i don't think it is so bad, to have, this is really one of the defining features, these trees. >> just like delores street has pine trees -- palm trees, we have defined our major thoroughfares with particular species and that's actually considered to be a good design feature, urban design feature.

>> it helps, one of the reasons why when the city does maintenance on a street that we have these major thoroughfare, then we can sure the prep yet trees are planted. if there's a problem with the species, we hope to keep up with the literature and learn things, so we can have plans for the future. >> how is the health of this generally, this array. >> this is pretty good. >> generally? >> generally market street looks good. even on market street where they have big, mature trees, they get hit by cars, every once in a while you'll see a smaller tree, we're planting with the same species. >> right here at the next tree -- street we have a smaller replacement tree. >> that's right, that has probably been in the ground for ten years. we have smaller ones that we put in recently we, try to stick with the same pallet. >> what about the trees over by city hall.

>> those are the same species as these trees here, this is a good question, because that's a type of pruning technique that is only applicable to a couple of species, and one is the the london plain sycamore trees. a lot of times people see the trees and say that's how you prune it, cut it at the top. that's not what happened. >> when it is done, it is something you establish with the tree and cut back to the same place every year. you do not cut a new cut, which is essentially a wound dot tree. so sometimes, people will look at those trees and when we issue them a fine for really damaging, severely damaging a street tree, they'll say i cut it like at city hall. it is a very specialized pruning technique and only applicable to, i say only to sycamores. >> and what we're seeing here, is the bureau of urban forestry, ready to replace the sidewalk. >> that's right. the bureau of urban forestry has

their own cement shop. the reason they dorks we have to maintain sidewalks around trees. this is our cement shop working, they're replacing a sidewalk and they make sure they frame out. >> and they need a must have her or shroud on their jackhammer, by article 29 of the police code. they all have to have must have lers. they all do, nobody knows it but it is in this. good excellent, this is great. okay. so how long does it take to do a job like this. just like a couple of days. >> we started monday, there was prep work. lane closure. >> we had a bobcat. >> okay. >> and we got all of these. >> you're going to clean it out and graze the thing out. >> you frame it up there. >> framing for the pour. >> when do you think you'll pour? >> monday. >> that's pretty quick work for such a big job here.

>> yeah. >> absolutely. >> with the bobcat, things do go fast. >> one thing we should make a note of, it is important when we take the whole side walk like this, we have to make sure that pedestrians have a safe place to go. part of what takes time on a job like this, we have to set up a whole new pedestrian walkway, so they're safe and not in the work area. >> so karla, isn't this amazing stree? >> this is a beautiful tree. >> what kind of tree. >> sitriadora. lemon scented. >> it is beautiful. >> it has a nice truck and ibe creditably smooth bark. you'll see the bark flakes off a lot. and it plakes to the point it is almost completely smooth, and you actually get some really nice color variations in the bark, it is really beautiful. >> there are five more right in the -- in the center island, right around the corner from

here. week see them right by the freeway. those must be, 80 muffs feet tall. >> they are definitely taller than the buildings across the way. they're very good size trees. luckily they have enough room to grow. the trunk on this one gets substantial, we don't see these in the sidewalk area. >> this is not its full-size, these get a lot bigger than this, in another 30 years. >> much bigger. that's right. >> that's gorgeous. but we don't recommend this, for people to put in their sidewalk in front of their house. >> unless they lived with a wide sidewalk and they're able to do a oversized basin or maybe sidewalk landscaping w mae consider it. >> okay, great. >> let's talk about, let's talk about this. these are all over san francisco, these are from, new zealand, i believe. >> yep. the common name for the tree is the bobble brush, looking at the

flower, it looks like a bottle brush. this one, is variety, is the, the china, there's another species of the same gina. do you smell lemons? >> a little bit. >> it is supposed to be lemon scented. >> you can maybe smell a bit of lemon. that's what they say. >> anytime you see that, the citrus, those are indications, there's citrus or lenl scent to the tree. bottle brush is not hugely popular in san francisco because these flowers will, fall and they will get into your car, and they will blow through your vents and, i've heard complaints that they get very sappy and they stick on cars. >> i love these things. >> it does well and doesn't get too huge t a good hardy street

tree. but we get complaints. >> they're similar to a lefto spermum. which is when captain cook sailed, he would take leaves from these plants and make tea to cure scurvey. >> there are also, there's another tree that is new zealand native. it is called the new england crils tree. they will survive in the worst conditions, the saltiest s. they have pretty aggressive roots, you want to plant it with care, but it can be a big beautiful tree, and really. >> if you want to see the big, the biggest, most beautiful,

metro -- that i know of, it is in the golden gate park as you go in the side entrance, right near the side entrance where the pond is, there's a huge one, it must be 80 feet tall with aerial roots coming down. it is gorgeous. they get enormous. >> they can. >> that's -- >> it is a great tree for some of our micro climb climates. one last thing, this in tree basin rnings what they're doing, they're creating, they're trying to reduce the tripping hazard and they put these pavers around the base of the tree, it is a good alternative to tree guard, what happens with the tree guards and it is something that we're working on right now in market street, it is very often, the tree f it doesn't grow perfectly out of the center of the guard, it will lean into the guard which skirts the trunk. if it gets too big, before you notice it is getting close to the trunk, it will start to grow into that, we prefer not to use tree guards except in special

areas, a special design or planting, or pedestrian use. >> you say the metal grades? >> right. >> i see so many trees girdaled and they get girdaled by the tree guard. >> what you need to do here. >> you have to cut out the metal. >> it can be time-consuming or expense pitch >> they're trying to make a break away. >> they're cast iron, so if you take a hammer, you can actually break around all the way around it. >> but i have unfortunately seen, i honestly have seen people around here with chisels, chiseling the tree around the tree grade, or guard. which of course kills the tree. so, oh well. >> if people are worried or they want to do something decorative, using a paver that is perm i can't believe, so it can get into the roots of the tree, that's a nice thing you can do. >> permable paving is something

the city is encouraging. there's a group here working on permable paving issues, so we do more ground water recharge and fewer problems with putting storm water and high value of storm water. >> what i brought is the sidewalk landscaping permit, gict this through the department, where if you have a wide enough sidewalk and the right conditions, you can take up the concrete and do planting and gadening there, unfortunately rkt we can't do it everywhere, because some sidewalks are so many pedestrians and it is too narrow that it might not make sense. sidewalks less than seven feet wide, thootr 0 they're not appropriate. in many cases you can do something, sometimes you can't do it where you have a tree, if you have infrastructure that won't allow you to plant a tree and you have a streetlight or a water box that is too close to the tree, you can do sidewalk landscaping and get permable pavement and get gardening,

that's available too. >> thanks. i want to thank you for coming. and, thank carla short, and this is really great. herned a lot. and we saw a lot of trees, and if they have questions, they can call the bureau of forestry. >> and you can call 311 and they can direct you to our website, where you download the forms. if you go to the city website and you look for bcw, there's a street tree that you click on, and we try to have good information up there, so it can help you at the outset, when you're ready to move, you give us a call. >> thank you, see you next month.visit us at

sfgovtv.org and click on buzz, thanks for watching. >> hey there, san francisco, here with the weekly buzz, it is september, and you know what that means? it is summer time in san francisco. you want to burn some calories while enjoying the great views enjoy a work out this friday, they are different each week and exist with the work outs including running hill and core, and be ready to feel the burn, after your work out, recharge with the healthy goodies from the farmer's market. this saturday, will feature a

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>> we are approving as many parks as we can, you have a value garden and not too many can claim that and you have an historic building that has been redone in a beautiful fashion and you have that beautiful outdoor ping-pong table and you have got the art commission involved and if you look at them, and we can particularly the gate as you came in, and that is extraordinary. and so these tiles, i am going to recommend that every park come and look at this park, because i think that the way that you have acknowledged donor iss really first class. >> it is nice to come and play and we have been driving by for literally a year.

>> it is kind of nice. >> all of the people that are here. ♪ >> good afternoon. i'm the chief building inspector with the department building inspection. welcome to our brown bag lunch series. this is the regular third thursday of every month event. we are finishing up with a talk about the outside lambs, an area that was previously considered uninhabitable. uninhabitable due to fog.

[inaudible] but we have with us a couple of real experts in outside plans. -- i am outside -- in outside lands. woody has devoted a lot of his time and effort to the outside lands. >> we are a nonprofit in our 10th year, and we are dedicated to preserving and sharing the history of san francisco. >> it is great to have you here. and pat, who has a lot of knowledge and brought to be sure today a lot of [inaudible] , and she can share with that -- she can share that with us as well, and we only regret that harvey the wonder dog could not be here. we talked about [inaudible]

what area, generally, are we talking about? >> the term came from what was called the pueblo land when the san francisco peninsula was switched over from mexican ownership to american ownership. certain tracts were preserved, so there was a more orderly, even though it took decades, transfer of ownership of those lands, but there were also what were called pueblo lands, which were sort of a poem by the town, and then, there was a whole lot of discussion about what should happen to those -- which were sort of zero and -- sort of owned by the town. >> so was san francisco's

bordered upon at the time, or did that happen later? >> san mateo county did not exist when they originally chartered it. i think there were 16 counties, and a few years later, they said they were too large, so they doubled back and created san mateo county. >> this is an early map of an area that might have been known as san francisco, but it did not have a defined southern boundary yet. >> the city i believe was up larkin street, and everything west was counties. i think larkin was here. that is the original charter. then in 1850, van ness, who was the supervisor, did the addition. it was called the western addition, even though it was in the middle of the city, because it was west of larkin.

>> i did not understand that when i was a child. it always seemed that it was east of where everything i knew was. >> all this down here was county of san francisco, so there was a point in time where you could be in the county of san francisco, but not in the city you live in these outside lands. >> lead problem is if you look at the orientation, no. is up. we are going to turn it the way we are normally accustomed to seeing it. here is where the golden gate bridge is. here is where the bay bridge is. the county went all the way down here, and about a year later, they moved the county to write about here, so this was county land or outside land, and this was the city. this was 1861, so the city has grown by this much.

these were added, and they are basically pasture lands. that is where petrero street is. >> and out here, the rancho -- what is a rancho? >> it is a mexican land grant that we agreed to respect when we still california from the mexicans. we agreed to respect the land grants that existed, and there was a commission set up. regretfully, none of the land grants were legally bested, so most of them were taken away from the mexicans. the other portion were pureblo lands, which would be considered entitled to four square leaks --

leagues. so 30 square miles with the possession of the pueblo of san francisco for public use, and that is how we got golden gate. when they acquired it as publicly, part of the treaty said you had to all mexican law, which set a certain amount of outside plants must be used for schools, playgrounds, open space. the original chaldea san francisco -- the original county of san francisco came from san mateo county. they decided it was too large a county, said the card off another county. at the time, the largest population in the state was in san francisco. l.a. barely made a presidio. they had, like, 50 or 60 people. 90% of the population was in san francisco, and everyone down the peninsula is saying if they are

in the county, san francisco has this huge population, we are going to have to go along with them, so they can't get off -- they carved it off. >> it looks like it is the richmond district, but a kind of shows what was on the west side town. a great deal of it was sam, and for that reason, people thought that the weather and the san -- it was really not a place that people wanted to live, and it was going to be very typical for san francisco -- very difficult for san francisco to expand west. >> if you look at the early maps, it was 3 miles wide by about 6 miles long, this huge sand dunes that just moved around. >> here is an 1875 map of the laguna. says along the side of the map, high sand hil