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So, the fact that our first project has broken ground is pretty exciting in and of itself. At least for us. We’ve been waiting for this day to come for over a year and, more than what’s actually happening on-site, we’re excited about what it signifies: that this project has officially gone from paper and thought to real people working on real land.

But, if that wasn’t exciting enough, we’re all pretty happy that the very first construction thing we do has a green element to it. After all – what is green about site work?

So What is Green about this Ground-Breaking?
We will be using the wood from on-site tree removal to create lumber and beams that can add a custom touch to our projects! Our ideas on what exactly it will be used for are still a bit rough (first we need to see what we actually end up with!), but some applications with real potential include paneling for the entrances, shelving, beams for outdoor trellis construction, and maybe even some artwork.

About the Trees
The types of trees include a sycamore, elm, hackberry, 2 blackwood acacias, black walnut, deodar cedar, locust, and a cottonwood. With all the diversity we should get an interesting mix of lumber and about 2000 board feet from all the logs. Some of the smooth sycamore branches that have nice curvature intact we envision as the posts of a pergola. While these trees have lumber value, the arborists report said that most of the trees were in poor condition, had been topped, and several were rotting in the middle.

Wood Chips Add Protection
Also, we had many of the wood chips from the tree removals placed around the oak trees to help protect the trees during construction. Wood chips blanket the soil to keep it from drying out as quickly in the summer, suppress weeds that compete with tree roots, break down to replenish the soil – especially important for trees impacted by construction! We also hope this will save us on bringing in more wood chips for landscaping and reduce the amount of herbicide needed to prepare the park area.

Urban Tree Harvesting
Using wood from urban trees is a green and growing business. It stores the carbon in the trees to keep it out of the atmosphere, it takes the place of wood that would be cut from the forests, and it is locally produced! I found out there are a couple guys locally that have portable mills and were willing to work with us. Doug Peterson has a tree service and a mill and Robert Randles has a mill and a website at www.sacwoodworks.com that is really cool. You can also find out about urban wood at the State website. When I worked with the Sacramento Tree Foundation, we were trying to get the milling of the city trees going but never got all the elements together - I heard one guy shipped elm logs to Connecticut! Now that I’ve discovered these contacts we will also try to get the city to start turning their logs into lumber!

So if you visit B Street West today (5th and B Street in West Sac) it looks very different! The oak trees on the corner have been cleaned of all the dead wood and pruned to the best structure, and all the other trees are gone! Thanks to Fallen Leaf Tree Service for working with us on the project!

Steve