Tree Trimming in Gold Hill
Gold Hill, just below Coloma, is part of our territory. Phone (530) 366-5087 and we'll round up a pruning pro to come see your fruit trees, your oaks, or whatever else has grown unruly on the place.
Arranging falls to us. Looking and quoting fall to them.
Gold first, then fruit
Folks once called it Granite Hill. It's 2.5 miles below Coloma, at an elevation of 1,621 feet. Mining came first. A ditch changed everything. Water was led over from Hangtown Creek, near Placerville, and the old diggings gave way to fields and orchards.
In the 1800s, Gold Hill fruit traveled to every corner of the United States. The district also hosted a brief colony of Japanese settlers, who raised tea and mulberry for silk. A handful of scattered farms remain.
So that gnarled fruit tree out back may come from a long family line.
Bringing back an old orchard tree
A fruit tree gone wild can nearly always be coaxed back. You'd have to work hard to kill one by pruning, the UC Master Gardeners say. Even so, they stress the timing.
Their order of work is simple. Circle the tree and study it from every side. Remove anything dead, diseased or crossing, cutting back to the next big branch or comfortably below any disease. Then take out the watersprouts, those vigorous upright shoots with few buds that seldom fruit, back to the branch that sent them up.
Bring the height down by degrees. Their handout favors trees you can tend with no ladder at all. For an old tree double that size, budget several seasons.
Which tree, which month
Most fruit trees get a winter prune while dormant and a lighter summer one to check their growth. Apricots and cherries break the pattern. UC wants inland trees cut only during July and August, since a fungus named Eutypa slips into fresh wounds during wet months. Older trees suffer more, UC adds, because over the years they've stacked up more pruning wounds.
Elderly pears and apples sometimes harbor fire blight. UC recommends removing infected wood in summer or winter, while the bacteria sit still. Your pro will cut at the next branch joint below the blackened part.
As for mulberries and shade trees, ISA notes that growth and wound closure peak when pruning comes before the spring growth flush.
Oaks on the old farms
Plenty of Gold Hill acreage keeps oaks along fences and field edges. Same rule as elsewhere. Leaf-droppers in winter, evergreens in summer. Keep orchard sprays and weed killers far from them, too, since herbicide overspray can damage oaks, the Master Gardeners warn.
Cost in Gold Hill
We know of no Gold Hill price list. Fixr's national guide puts pruning at $350 to $650 per tree, with an average 30-foot apple near $450. Small trees of 10 to 20 feet run $75 to $300. A row of youngsters goes faster than one old giant. Expect your price on site, before work starts.
Gold Hill questions
Can you send someone to Gold Hill?
Gladly. Ring (530) 366-5087, give your road and a tree count, and we'll set the visit.
Can my old, overgrown apple be saved?
Most likely. Fruit trees forgive a great deal, though the height should come down over several seasons.
When are apricots pruned here?
July and August. That's UC's window for inland apricots and cherries, to keep Eutypa out of new cuts.
Nearby towns
Coloma sits just up the road: tree trimming in Coloma. The old canal's source, Hangtown Creek, runs near tree trimming in Placerville. A little northwest lies tree trimming in Lotus. Orchard owners, see fruit tree pruning; everyone else, tree trimming in Shingle Springs or all towns.