Dear Neighbor,

We are pleased to inform you that heritage trees on your street again will be professionally pruned at County Service Area 16 (CSA 16) expense between January 5^th and the 24^th. The arborists may place 'No Parking' signs under street trees to be pruned the next day. Please help with your neighbors to facilitate access to the trees.

Our goals are to preserve the long-term beauty, health, and structural integrity of the trees. The arborists will remove noticeably damaged, diseased, dead, and weakly attached branches. And they will respect the natural growth forms of the trees. Low branches that interfere with large vehicles will be removed. Where possible, branches retained over the street will be selected for their ability to create a canopied road. (When trees are back in leaf in the spring, look at the first block of Bretano Way and along Corte Morada to see how nicely these canopied roads are developing.)

Pruning will not be undertaken on trees that recently were pruned or 'topped' by homeowners. Topped trees require intensive and expensive annual pruning to train back into their natural growth form. If you ever want to prune a curbside heritage or median tree to reduce the amount of leaves, increase your view, or create a particular tree form (by 'topping' or 'pollarding'), contact GPOA first at 461-7338 – as required under the CC&R's. We will be happy to address your concerns professionally.

A Note on Leaf Fungus
A fungus typically infects the leaves of our sycamore and ash trees in spring as new leaves emerge and the weather still is wet. Established trees are in no danger from the leaf disease, technically called Anthracnose. We'll prune to remove dead and diseased wood (which contain spores by which the fungus reproduces and spreads) and open up the canopies to more sunlight and air circulation-this typically decreases the level of disease. Yet, no permanent eradication method exists currently. You can also help control the fungus by removing fallen leaves, especially in autumn.

We look forward to preserving the health of Greenbrae's heritage trees and to further enhancing our neighborhood's beauty and property values through our long-term pruning program. If you have any questions or suggestions, please feel free to contact the GPOA at 461-7338 or email us at either: info@greenbrae.org or landscaping@greenbrae.org.

Best wishes for a happy and prosperous 2004!

Sincerely,

Scott Sherman
GPOA Landscape Chairman
Certified Arborist WE-3225A