Hamilton Tree Service
(925) 228-1010

Tree management for HOAs, municipalities and commercial sites

Ongoing management for HOAs, municipalities, government, corporate campuses, golf courses and parks.

Arborist taking tree inventory on Government Land

Managing trees across a site is a different job from dealing with one tree. The question stops being what to do about this tree and becomes what to do first, across several hundred of them, on a budget that renews annually.

That starts with knowing what is there: an inventory of species, size, condition and location. From there the work can be prioritized by risk and staged across seasons and budget years instead of being driven by whatever failed most recently.

Plans work best when they are short. An annual walk of the site, and a scope that runs from now to about two years out, keeps up with what the weather actually did — a drought year and then a wet one change both how fast a tree grows and how fast it declines. A five-year scope written against a budget that later moves is a document nobody can complete, and an uncomfortable one to be holding if something fails in the meantime.

We work on prevailing-wage public projects and are registered with the California Department of Industrial Relations.

What tree management programs includes

  • Site tree inventory — species, size, condition, location
  • An annual walk of the site, and a scope for now to two years out
  • Risk-based prioritization and multi-year work planning
  • Scheduled pruning, removal and replanting cycles
  • Traffic plans, work-area closures and notices to residents
  • A walk of the finished work with your manager, and the next phase costed
  • Storm response for sites under management
  • Prevailing-wage public work (DIR registered)

Tree management programs: common questions

Do you work on public and prevailing-wage projects?
Yes. We are registered with the California Department of Industrial Relations — the registration number is listed in the footer of this site — and we run prevailing-wage work with the classification and reporting that requires.
What does an inventory actually give us?
A defensible basis for spending. Once condition and risk are recorded against each tree, work can be ordered by what matters rather than by what is most visible, and a board or a public body has something to point at when asked why this tree and not that one.
How far ahead should the plan go?
About two years, looked at again every year. Trees answer to the weather, so a scope written five years out describes a site that has changed by the time it is funded. An annual walk keeps the list honest, keeps it inside the budget that exists, and means the urgent work is never waiting on a plan written in a different climate.
Can work be staged across budget years?
That is usually the point. A prioritized plan lets high-risk work happen now and lower-priority work sit in a later cycle, which is easier to fund and easier to defend than an annual scramble.
Tree removal permits, city by city

Which trees need a permit in 22 Bay Area cities and counties, and where to apply.

Related services

Our sister companies

Two companies behind the work: one turns what we cut into mulch, the other keeps our trucks and equipment running.

  • Produces our mulch

    EcoMulch

    Makes mulch from local tree work, ours included, and sells it with soil, compost and rock, for pickup in Martinez or delivery to your driveway.

    Visit ecomulch.org (opens in a new tab)

  • Maintains and repairs our fleet

    Rex Mechanical

    Heavy equipment repair, welding, hydraulics and fabrication, in its shop in Concord or on site across Northern California.

    Visit rex-mechanical.com (opens in a new tab)

Talk to someone about your tree management programs

Estimates are free. Tell us what you’re looking at and we’ll come and have a look.