After we receive your Tree Request Form, we'll schedule a site-visit with you.

We follow the City of Oakland's Tree Planting Guidelines found here.

Before we meet:

• We'll visit the location to be planted, and mark the sidewalk for Underground Service Alert (8-1-1, "call before you dig").  
  • Our marks will be made with white spray paint, or white chalk during the summer (when there is no risk of rain washing it away). 
    
  • We'll submit a ticket to USA
  • USA will contact utility members 

Utility members will mark:

• Red for Electric
  • ​PG&E
• Orange for Communication
  • ​AT&T or MCI
    
• Yellow for Gas
  • ​PG&E
• Blue for Water
  • ​EBMUD
• Green for Sewer
  • EBMUD

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During our visit, we'll look for the following:

Size Categories & Spacing of Trees:

Overhead high-voltage wires*

• If yes, we adhere to a City of Oakland restriction and choose trees that will not grow to be within 10' of the wires. 
  • Typical wires are 35' up, so Oakland will not allow a tree taller than 25' at maturity, but we cannot use our grant for such a small tree.
    
  • If the wires are taller than 35', we might be able to plant a grant-eligible tree, but still with a mature height at least 10' below the high-voltage wires.
    

No-tree zones

• in "bus zones", 40' back from the bus-stop sign - if sidewalk is 15' wide or less
  
• in blue curb (handicap parking) zones
  
• if sidewalk is less than 6' wide:
  • minimum 3' (36") of paved width per the American Disability Act, but 4' (48") preferred under the California Building Code
  • 2' for a "Small" tree-well (City of Oakland standard), or 3' for a "Medium" tree-well that satisfies our grant

Clearance
​(measured from center of tree trunk to edge of utility)

• 5 feet from
  • underground utilities (marked)
    
  • aboveground utilities 
    
  • fire hydrants
    
  • utility poles
    
  • utility boxes
    
  • driveway curb-cuts
    
  • "No Parking" (street-sweeping) signs
    
  • roof drains
    
• 10 feet from
  • fire escapes
    
• 20 feet from
  • street lights
    
  • traffic signals
    
  • ​traffic-regulating signs such as "Stop" or "Yield"
    
  • other existing "official trees"
    

Utility pole guy wires must be kept free of contact from vegetation.

A "tree basin" or "tree well" is the square or rectangle of open soil surrounded by the sidewalk.
Some sidewalks have a continuous "planting strip" of grass or bare soil. 

We offer FOUR (4) categories of trees based on the size of the tree basin:

• We aim to plant as big a tree as possible in the available space.
• Oakland has set one set of standards for the size categories of street trees, but to qualify for our CAL FIRE grant as a "free tree", each tree must have at least 24 square feet of open soil and reach at least 25' tall at maturity.
  • This gives the tree the best chance to establish strong roots and live long. 
  • The bigger the tree, the more carbon it will sequester - which is the point of the CAL FIRE grant.
• Tree basins that meet the Oakland standard but are too small to meet the CAL FIRE standard will not be paid for by the grant.

Small:

• 2 feet x 3 feet
• continuous planting strip at least 2 feet wide
  
• no Small trees are CAL FIRE eligible*
  

​Medium (City of Oakland standards)

• 4 feet x 4 feet
• 3 feet x 6 feet
• continuous planting strip of at least 3 feet wide
  

Medium (CAL FIRE eligible):

• 3 feet x 8 feet
• 3.5 feet (42 inches) x 7 feet
• continuous planting strip of at least 3 feet wide
  

Large

• 4 feet x 6 feet
• 5 feet x 5 feet 
• continuous planting strip of at least 4 feet wide
  
• all Large trees are CAL FIRE eligible
  

Extra-large

• 6 feet x 8 feet
  
• continuous planting strip of at least 6 feet wide
  
• all Extra-large trees are CAL FIRE eligible
  

Spacing between trees
A plant community canopy consists of one or more plant crowns growing in a given area. The crown of a tree is the branches, leaves, and reproductive structures extending from the trunk or main stems.

• Oakland requires at least 20 feet (trunk-to-trunk) between trees. (Other cities allow small or narrow trees to be spaced closer together, such as 15 feet apart.)
  
• Larger trees may be better suited to be spaced farther apart (25-35 feet), depending on crown spread 
  

* We cannot use our CAL FIRE grant to pay for a "Small-stature" tree, which usually corresponds to planting strips that are less than 3' wide or have high-voltage wires less than 40' overhead.   You can plant your own small-stature tree and fill out the City's "plant-your-own" form, or we can refer you to another local tree-planting organization.  Other organizations might charge a nominal fee-for-service or might have other grants or donations to make the tree free to you.