Pavement and Runoff

This morning 3 different friends posted this article, about people paving their yards.  As a young and passionate plant ecologist I fled to the wilds of West Marin, wanting to be far away from paved over cities. Now I have been lured back, and love being in San Francisco for so many reasons. My transition was eased by the abundance of parks and wildlands in and around our beautiful city, and by the resurgence of urban farming, and other plant positive policies.  Plants are awesome, and are good for real estate values too. Cities are finding that chronic water pollution problems can be mitigated with green infrastructure.

EPA

Pavement to Parks and Friends of the Urban Forest are places to start if you want a little help transforming your paved over spaces. Keep in mind the mature size of anything you plant, and the importance of planting the right tree in the right place, and if you really MUST pave, consider permeable paving option.

Then when the rain comes down it can sink into the earth, and grow things, rather than roll on into pipes, gathering grossness along the way, and pour out in to our beautiful bay and ocean.

Personal Microclimate

I visited some friends today who live in a beautiful east/west running valley in West Marin. It was wonderful to be with people as attuned to (obsessed with?) microclimate as I am. Being in a valley, they are very attuned to their location, and how it affects how much sun they get at this time of year. Their property is on the south facing slope, a few hundred feet up from the creek, and because of the direction the valley runs, they are largely spared the prevailing (cold) NW wind. Their neighbors a few houses down at a lower elevation get much less sun and are more prone to frost, since the cold air flows down the valley.

Beyond the overall issue of warmth and energy use, microclimate preference is a somewhat personal thing. If you like being an early riser you'll like an eastern exposure, especially for bedroom and kitchen. If you are a later sleeper, and/or like your home flooded with light during cocktail hour, you may prefer a western exposure. If you like to cook using herbs and vegies from your garden, you will love a walk out terrace or garden to the south, and if you are an artist and like the cooler, more consistent light from the north, you'll like your studio facing that way. If you are particularly sensitive to cold you'll want a southwest exposure.

Cats have this microclimate thing DOWN

In the city, a full floor flat would be lovely, so light from all directions would fill your home at different times throughout the day. In a single family home you'd need to be on flat terrain, or the top of a hill to be exposed to all the directions. Of course, other buildings and trees can also act like hillsides and block your sun exposure.

Armaclad Windows

Now's the time, I say again, to go look at the neighborhoods you are considering, at say, before 10 and after 2, and see where the sun is. There's not much that is sadder than finding out you live in a shadow 6 months out of the year, AFTER escrow has closed, the movers have driven off and the kids have started school.

Right Tree, Right Place: PG&E and Trees

So it is still dry and breezy.  This fire season in January has me thinking of urban trees again. Here is guidance from PG&E's perspective re: planting distance from power lines, based on mature size of tree. "Proper tree and site selection provide trouble-free beauty and pleasure for years to come."

Below we see the consequences of "improper" tree and site selection.  Prunicide. 

Prunicide

Here are some happier trees in SF.

Divergence

Friends of the Urban Forest has a lot of great resources for happy trees in San Francisco. Much of the info applies to more developed areas of Marin. Of course there's more to consider than power lines such as neighborly relationships. 

Trees and Plants Deter Crime, Make Us Happy

So it seems time to give trees some credit. They don't mean to create neighborhood strife. Assuming they are right sized and appropriate for their locations, trees offer shade, oxygen, beauty and habitat. There is evidence that trees can reduce crime, as well as increase property values, keep our children healthy, and generally contribute to a great feeling neighborhood.

Robert Schlegel

"Defensible space" refers to space around homes for protection from wildfire or from crime. The latter definition came from Oscar Newmans work beginning with the publication in 1972 of Defensible Space.  Trees and/or other appropriate plants can be a key part of crime deterrance through environmental design.

Palas por Pistolas

Just before I had a chance to publish this post, I was blessed with an invitation to this event (my photo from the mezzanine below). This project is one of so many inspirational ways people are improving their homes and neighborhoods with strategic plant life (which I shall continue to highlight and rave about in further posts!)

Kim Cooper

It was great to hear Willie Brown in wax poetic about plants improving the neighborhood, and how great they are for people and butterflies in the city.   In the country, well, trees/plants are one of the main reasons people like to live in the country, though they may not realize it. Plants plus people in community equals high quality of life!

World Changing NY

Preliminary Title Report, Light, Air and Trees

Yesterday, at a risk management meeting with fellow real estate agents, the focus was on the Preliminary Title Report. As discussion moved to easements, since my current escrow has a light and air easement, I asked how common these are and what sorts of issues they present.

googlebooks

The attorney leading the discussion said that they are quite common and that there are many issues with them, often around trees. If you've been reading this blog, you'll know it got started with my rants encouraging people to think about mature size of redwood trees before planting, and warning of tree trouble so of course I found this interesting.

Stamen Law

Redwood trees are not the only trees that get very tall and block views.  I repeat, know the mature size of trees before you plant them, or buy property with trees on it. It's so easy these days, you can just Google the common name of the tree. Save yourself, your neighbors and the trees pain and suffering! Trees are wonderful oxygen producing, habitat and privacy creating beings and they GROW.

Plant Amnesty

If you value your view, one (expensive) way to protect it is to purchase the potential view blocking property.  Another is to purchase a light and air (and perhaps view) easement from your neighbors, which will then affect the property (and property value) until the expiration date. If there is no expiration date, it will "affect the property until such time as the owner of the property benefited by the easement were to deed back any right title and interest in that easement".

Marin Magazine

If you are ready to purchase property, and thinking maybe you'll add on someday, especially in an upward direction, you'll definitely want to be sure there are no light and air easements on your property, so review that Preliminary Title Report carefully. Your approval of it is a contingency in the contract, so you can decide not to go forward (without losing your deposit) based on what you find, but this is a short contingency, so review it asap and get answers from your title professional if you have questions.

This is also true if you are thinking of purchasing a property that you think you will plant trees on, or has trees on it already, because they may grow into the easement, and you could be required to trim or remove them. If it's too late for all this advice, Nolo Press has FAQ's, and there is at least one local attorney who has expertise with tree issues.

and then there is the Solar Shade Control Act.  Which probably merits another post, as do these other interesting light and air debates in the Mission and Trans Bay terminal zone.

Oops, no tree resolution after all...

Larry says he's not buying the house next door,
 so all that was just gossip and innuendo...

More on tree trouble

Here's the follow up to recent San Francisco tree trouble that got more or less resolved with a whole lot of ($40,000,000) dollars.

There are also tree tribulations in Marin, though yards are typically much larger.  Also in Australia, and elsewhere around the world, wherever there are trees and people.

Of course, the trees are not the problem. We are the problem. So if we think ahead to match mature tree size to location, we allow for long term magnificence.

Yew tree planted at St. Bartholomew's Church more than 1500 years ago

Nolo Press has some FAQ's if you find yourself with legal questions about your tree dilemmas. and of course, all this is good to think about when you are contemplating buying or selling property.

Please, think twice before planting that lovely tree

Oh the magnificent redwood tree. So deeply are we touched by the beauty and glory of these trees, we innocently hope to bring some of that magic home, forgetting that these are the TALLEST trees in the WORLD. I cringe on behalf of these trees (and the neighboring homes) when I see them planted in small backyards in the city.

If you live on acreage, or backed up against protected wild-lands where redwoods would be appropriate, by all means have at it.  If not, remember that these trees get ginormous, and wrap their roots into pipes, lift sidewalks, crack foundations, and grow into neighbors views. They can be contained, but it takes consistent trimming and maintenance (read: dollars) and if they are allowed to get big inevitably people get attached to them and a fracas erupts when a property owner needs or wants to remove them. Emotions can run wild about trees around here, on a level with fences and dogs. I have seen real estate transactions, not to mention neighborly relationships, fall apart over trees. Like bear cubs, they are so cute when they are small, but when they grow into enormous wild creatures we have a problem on our hands.

Think twice. Go visit them at Muir Woods or Big Basin, or at Strybing Arboretum in Golden Gate Park, send a check to Save The Redwoods, but if you do a small bit of research and consider the mature size of any tree you plant before you plant, you will save yourself, your neighbors and the trees a lot of suffering.

(and if it's too late for this advice, SF Friends of the Urban Forest has an arborist referral page)