Tag Archives: Pine

Three Easy Steps to Get Brush Chipped at Your House Year Round

Chipping

The Fire Safe Council of Nevada County will chip any brush that is cleared from defensible space of any permanent structure and/or 30’ from any roadside or driveway used for evacuation purposes. Any vegetation that grows past such limitations is beyond the boundaries of what we can chip.

Grant funding is very limited for the Chipping program. We need your support to keep the program functional.  The Fire Safe Council of Nevada County relies on a suggested donation of $75 per hour from chipping customers, membership dues and generous donations of local businesses and Nevada County residents to keep the program running.

To use the chipping program:

1. Create your piles to be chipped. See program requirements below.

2. Download the Defensible Space Chipping Application or contact the Fire Safe Council of Nevada County at (530) 272-1122 and leave your name, mailing address and phone number and a Defensible Space Chipping Application will be mailed to you.

3. After the Fire Safe Council of Nevada County receives your chipping application they will enter it on the appropriate neighborhood route. Chipping is completed on a six to eight week rotation throughout all the different neighborhoods. When you complete your piles for chipping and submit your chipping application will determine how long it will be before the chipper arives to complete your chipping. Sustaining members of the Fire Safe Council generally recieve chipping service within two weeks. If you would like to learn how to receive priority chipping please visit our membership page.

The Fire Safe Council of Nevada County is not able to chip:

  • Solid piles of leaves.
  • Pine needles.
  • Yard clippings.
  • Decaying wood.
  • Scotch Broom
  • Timber harvest projects.

Waste Management offers a “Green Waste Pick-Up” program to dispose of such materials. They can be contacted at (530) 274-3090.

Program Requirements:

  • Chipping piles need to be stacked along a road or driveway frontages which will allow the crew to work from the road or driveway.
  • Piles must be placed within 5 feet of chipper access.
  • Piles must be placed on the uphill side of road or driveway.
  • Piles must be free of roots/stumps, rocks and mud, poison oak, scotch broom and blackberries and other vines.
  • Piles must be stacked with the cut ends facing the same direction, pointing towards access route to piles.
  • All material chipped will be blown back onto the property or put in a pile where the brush was or.
  • The Fire Safe Council of Nevada County will provide service on a first-come, first–served basis.
  • The Fire Safe Council of Nevada County cannot clean up timber harvest projects or vacant lots.

Any more questions or concerns, please feel free to contact the Fire Safe Council of Nevada County (530) 272-1122.

 

For all your real estate needs
Email or call today:

John J. O’Dell Realtor® GRI
Civil Engineer
General Contractor
(530) 263-1091
Email jodell@nevadacounty.com

DRE#00669941

Enhanced by Zemanta

O Tannenbaum! Picking A Christmas Tree

christmas-tree

Photo Courtesy of Christmas Lights Etc.

By Elizabeth Dunn, Landscape Architect

It’s the holiday season, when the eggnog is back in the stores, the fruitcakes come out of the cupboard, and my hand is cramped from writing Christmas cards.  It is also the time of year for magic and one of the best combinations of aromas.  Hot chocolate with candy canes, cloves in oranges, and Christmas trees!

Nordman Fir
Nordman Fir

The Nevada County Farm Guide for 2009 lists several places to find Christmas Trees, and some of the local nurseries have live trees available.  These trees can be planted in the yard after Christmas.  They are not in pots or boxes but have their roots and attached soil wrapped in burlap. In the industry they are called balled and burlapped or B&B on the plant list.  It allows for less waste when planting the tree because there are not wooden boards or plastic pots to send to a landfill or recycling center.  The tree is planted with the burlap still in place.  Before the hole is filled the burlap is pulled back from the top 1/3 of the rootball, the natural fiber rope is cut from the trunk and in a few other spots, and then the hole is filled with the appropriate mixture of planting soil.

I spend a couple Saturdays a month working at Peaceful Valley.  They have live trees for sale.  Having never worked on a Christmas tree farm, I enjoyed helping people pick out their tree.  It was even more magical knowing that they will be able to enjoy the tree well into the future.  It is recommended that they plant the tree in their fire safe zone, keep it irrigated for at least the first three years while it is becoming established, and eventually, after several years, remove the lower branches.

Douglas Fir
Douglas Fir

Douglas Fir is one of the favorites.  It is listed as native to Nevada County in the Master Garden’s Western Nevada County Gardening Guide.  It is not a True Fir tree as its botanical genus name, Pseudotsuga, shows.  However, according to the National Forestry Association, it is one of the fastest growing conifers in the temperate forests and is the most important lumber species in the US.

White Fir
White Fir

True Fir Trees have the botanical genus name of Abies.  With my unscientific poll, this genus is best because of its scent. “It just smells like Christmas!” many friends say.  There are several species of True Firs.  The Nordman Fir is popular as an indoor potted plant.  It has evenly spaced branches that easily showcase a range of ornaments. Sunset’s Western Garden Book notes that the Nordman is one of the best adapted Firs for California gardens.

Corkbar Fir
Corkbar FirWhite Fir

There are so many more evergreen trees out there.  The Cedar, Cypress, Pine, Sequoia, and Spruce are all trees that are used for Christmas Trees and decoration.  With proper care and the right location, any species of tree will provide years of wonder.  Its ornaments next year can be popcorn and red berry chains.  The magic will be heard when the winter birds are singing from its branches and it will be felt when standing close to the tree and listening to the silence of the snow as it falls all around.

Happy Holidays!

Elizabeth Dunn is a licensed Landscape Architect. She spends the majority of her work days in the studio of Rebecca Cofffman Landscape Architects in Nevada City, CA

fir-covered-with-snow

Sources:

Nevada County Farm Guide

Peaceful Valley Farm and Garden Supply

Western Nevada County Gardening Guide

UCCE Nevada County Master Gardeners, c. 2006

Western Garden Book, Sunset Books, sixth printing, c. 1998

Manual of Woody Landscape Plants, Michael Dirr, c. 1998

Enhanced by Zemanta