Tree Removal in Boyes Hot Springs, CA

Tree Removal in Boyes Hot Springs is mostly close-quarters work. The 2020 census counted 6,215 people on about 1.06 square miles, close to 5,900 per square mile, which is more like a city neighborhood than a rural valley. Homes are packed onto lots first divided for resort cottages, driveways are narrow, and power lines cross back yards. Big trees here usually have a house or two inside their fall range.

A resort history written in trees

Henry Boyes found hot springs here in 1895, and the Boyes Hot Springs Hotel drew, at its peak, more than 70,000 visitors a year. On lots from that era, the biggest trees are often ornamentals planted long ago for shade and show, such as palms, pines and eucalyptus, and some have had the better part of a century to grow. A September 1923 wildfire destroyed the settlement, and it was rebuilt in part as a resort area. Many of today's big trees date from that rebuilding era or later, and some are reaching the end of their safe life.

Who sets the rules

Boyes Hot Springs is unincorporated. The county's Tree Protection Ordinance applies, not the city of Sonoma's. Native oaks, bigleaf maple, buckeye, redwood, Monterey cypress and several pines are protected at 6 inches DBH and need a zoning permit to remove. Eucalyptus and most ornamental non-natives, including palms, are not protected. The exemptions for dead or hazardous trees within a home's defensible space, and for removal needed to maintain an existing house, often apply on these crowded lots.

Working along Highway 12

State Route 12 runs through the middle of the Springs, and many trees overhang it or the side streets. A job next to the highway needs traffic planning, and sometimes a Caltrans or county encroachment permit, before anything is cut. We sort that out ahead of time. Sonoma County Transit runs buses through the area, so lane closures need to be short and well signed.

Planning around neighbors

On lots this close together, a removal affects more than one household. Limbs often hang over a fence line, and the best place to set a lift or lower wood may be in a shared driveway. We prefer to talk through access with everyone involved before the work day, and the written estimate says where the equipment will sit and how long the street or drive will be in use. California law generally lets an owner trim branches that overhang their property line, but not in a way that kills or seriously damages a neighbor's tree, so major work on a shared tree is best agreed in advance.

After storms

When winter storms soak the valley floor, the Springs get their share of downed limbs and uprooted trees. If a tree is on a house or a car, call (707) 385-5238 with photos if you can, and keep away from any wires it may have brought down.

What we often remove here

• Tall eucalyptus and pines from the resort era that now loom over several homes
• Palms that have grown into utility lines or drop heavy fronds
• Dead or declining Monterey pines
• Trees damaged in winter storms, when the valley floor floods and soils soak

Call (707) 385-5238 or send the form for a written estimate. Get a free estimate