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Tree Removal in Gold Hill

Gold Hill's an easy one for us. Call (530) 316-5144. It's a short run north of Placerville, and we'll set the day once we find your pro.

Gold Hill started as farm country

Folks once called it Granite Hill. Now it's Gold Hill, unincorporated, around 1,621 feet up. Coloma lies 2.5 miles north.

Mining got things going. Farms followed after a ditch brought Hangtown Creek water over from near Placerville. Back in the 1800s, its orchards sent fruit all over the United States. Some of that farming hangs on today, spread thin.

There's one bit of history here worth a detour. In 1869, 22 people from samurai families started a tea and silk farm, the Wakamatsu colony. Historians think it was North America's first lasting Japanese settlement. It only ran until 1871. Today it's state landmark 815, and since November 2010 a land trust, the American River Conservancy, has owned it.

Old farms, old trees

Farm ground leaves a mark. Old farm parcels often keep rows of fruit trees, windbreaks and big shade trees around the house. Here's what tends to need attention:

• Old orchard trees that stopped bearing and are falling apart.
• Windbreak rows grown tall and thick, close to a barn or a house.
• Big oaks out in pasture, with dead limbs over a fence line.
• Trees grown into old fences, wells or irrigation lines.
• Brush that filled in where cattle or crops used to keep it down.

Photo spot: an old orchard row and a farmhouse with a big oak in a Gold Hill pasture, plain drawing

Fire station with a hand crew

The local firehouse is Station 27, 6051 Gold Hill Road. No county crew lives there full time. A lease lets a federal BLM hand crew use it as home base, though.

For tree work, the local fire district handles clearing questions and burn permits. Call them if you got a notice.

Rules that apply in Gold Hill

Gold Hill is out in the county, so these are the ones to know:

• County Chapter 8.09 for fire clearing, with a 100-foot minimum buffer.
• The county oak chapter for native oaks on private land at or below 4,000 feet. Gold Hill is well under that.
• The farming exemption. The oak chapter lets some farm work skip its permit, like cultivation and getting land ready to grow crops. Uses that need a conditional use permit don't get that pass.

If you're taking out oaks to plant or graze, read the exemptions closely or ask the county. Clearing for a new house is a different story.

Dealing with the brush

On farm parcels, the brush pile can be bigger than the tree job. A few options:

1. Have the pro chip it on site. LawnStarter puts chipping at about $65 to $125.
2. Stack it by the road for the Fire Safe Council's free chipper, when the program is running.
3. Burn it outside fire season, with a permit, on a burn day.

Whatever you pick, don't let fresh pine slash sit in a heap. Those heaps are beetle nurseries, per the Fire Safe Council.

What it might cost

National guides give the rough numbers. Fixr lists a 30 to 60 foot tree at $450 to $700. A smaller tree under 30 feet runs about $150 to $400.

Clearing a lot or a fence line by the acre runs $500 to $2,500 for light work, Fixr says.

Before the visit

• Mark which old trees you want to keep and which can go.
• Walk fence lines and note dead limbs over them.
• Tell us about livestock or gates that must stay shut.
• Find wells, pumps and water lines.
• Decide if you want the wood chipped, hauled or split.

Nearby

Up the road north: tree removal in Coloma. Its neighbor to the west: tree removal in Lotus. South, back in town: tree removal in Placerville. Oak questions get answered on the permit page. Or go back to the town list.