Tree management
Our expertise in urban forest management spans the breadth of arboriculture and urban forestry. Our projects range from small privately held properties to helping large public agencies evaluate and manage their urban forest.
Our specialties within urban forest management include:
Tree ordinances
H|BC has worked with several communities to write or revise tree ordinances. Our staff are leaders in benchmarking, policy analysis, and producing scientifically based guidelines. Our staff uses policy analysis techniques to devise solutions that are practical and representative of the values of the community. The goal is to provide recommendations that are attainable at the staffing levels of the governing body.
Quantifying benefits of trees
Using a tree inventory and cost: benefit analysis, we quantify the environmental benefits of the urban forest. In addition, we can make projections for how cost: benefits may change over time. This information can help communities demonstrate the monetary value of the urban forest, justify budgets, or compare vegetation with impacts of a new landscape.
Urban forest management plans
The long-term goal of urban forest management is sustainability: securing the ecological, social, and economic benefits of trees.
Our comprehensive sustainability assessment program includes:
- Defining goals and desired outcomes
- Evaluating tree resource
- Preparing management plans and specifications
Our aim is to produce a practical management plan - a working guide for scheduling, implementing, and contracting work over the short and long term.
The Association of Bay Area Government identifies an Urban Forest management Plan as an important risk management best practice. H|BC has extensive experience in developing urban forest and risk management plans.
Municipal urban forestry programs
H|BC helps communities evaluate, implement, resolve, and improve tree planting and management programs. We work with community citizens, agency staff, elected officials, and businesses to craft realistic, effective solutions.
Tree risk assessment
We encounter risk throughout our daily lives, from the safety of our roads to the quality of the foods we eat to the recreation we enjoy. Whenever trees are near people and property, there is risk that the tree may fail and cause damage, although that risk is very low. By inspecting trees that are in areas used by people, we identify treatments to reduce risk, enhance tree stability, and promote longevity.
The Association of Bay Area Governments identifies an Urban Forest Management Plan as an important risk management best practice. H|BC has extensive experience in developing urban forest and risk management plans.
Site and plant selection
Creating healthy, attractive landscape involves selecting plants suitable for the site, preparing the site, and planting properly. Our expertise in site evaluation and broad knowledge of landscape plants provides landscape architects, designers, and contractors with the information they need to design and install functional, attractive landscapes.
Our site analysis process includes the following:
- Examining the site and evaluating plant performance
- Collecting appropriate soil, tissue and/or water samples for laboratory analysis
- Interpreting the laboratory analyses
- Identifying opportunities and constraints for landscape plantings
- Evaluating proposed plant species tolerance to site conditions
- Providing recommendations and specifications for preparing or improving the site for plant growth
Quality plant inspection and planting
A key factor in successful, sustainable landscapes is planting good quality plants in a properly prepared site. H|BC will prepare plant quality and planting specifications, select healthy plants with well-formed root systems at the nursery, inspect them when they are delivered, and monitor their planting.
We are involved with the Quality Tree Initiative in California, and support the Urban Tree Foundation's Guideline Specifications for Nursery Tree Quality.
Landscape planting and management
H|BC provides consulting services to sustain healthy, attractive landscapes, including:
- Preparing specifications for plant quality, planting and maintenance
- Assessing landscape conditions and quality
- Diagnosing plant health problems
- Conserving water during landscape irrigation
- Promoting environmentally friendly landscaping