Mystery and Intrigue in the Muirwood Neighborhood

The death of an elderly tree in the Muirwood Neighborhood was not a natural death.

According to Michael Fulford of the city of Pleasanton Landscape and Architecture Office, someone deliberately scuttled the very tall cedar, a Pleasanton Heritage tree.

The manner of death for this dedar is known as girdling. Dick Oliver, the agent that lists the property, confirmed seeing that girdling had occurred around the trunk of the tree and Fulford also confirmed that girdling is what killed the tree.

At the time of its death the elderly cedar resided at 3821 Muirwood Drive. The property is privately owned, currently vacant and has been listed for sale for approximately one year.

A local tree service company has been on the property several times during the month of May, trimming the trees on the property. The cedar was the last tree worked on the property and the only one that had to come down.

The old cedar was trimmed up somewhat by the local tree service company previously on earlier visits, which amounted to an autopsy that confirmed the manner of its death.

Girdling is to cut out a section of bark totally around the trunk of the tree.  A two to four-inch wide section of bark is removed approximately one and a half inches deep or down to the wood.

This method of butchery slowly kills the tree at first as sap and nutrients are not flowing due to the bark being removed. The slow death of the tree gradually progresses until it is fully expired.

Dick Oliver filed a report with the Pleasanton Police Department on the girdling that had been commited to this tree. The Police Department is continuing in its investigation.

There is a neighbor of interest that has surfaced in the investigation that is known to this blogger. Oliver confirmed the neighbor of interest in the girdling of the elderly cedar tree.

The city of Pleasanton aggresively investigates and issues substantial monetary penalties to people that violate city code in regards to protections for what is determined to be a Heritage Tree.

A permit, which is free, will be issued to take down a Heritage Tree when it is determined to be dead or when it is through its root system buckling foundation walls, cracking concrete driveways and damaging nearby structures.

A Heritage Tree is determined by its size, at least 35 feet in height and a girth of 55 inches or more. Every year the city of Pleasanton extracts large sums of money from numerous offenders.

I had a large healthy Monterey Pine out in the far corner of my yard about six years ago when seemingly overnight the Monterey Pine was dead. Fulford informed me the cause of death was Sequoia Pitch Moth, a common cause of death for the Monterey Pine in this area because the species is out of its natural environment and can only sustain life approximately 25 years. I paid Terry's Tree Service $400 to take it down and in ensuing years of slowly chopping on the stump I also got it out.