The red tag is already on the tree

A clearance prune is a crew day. A city tag is a different job, and the notice tells you which one. Read it before anyone cuts. Waiting is how a trim tag turns into a removal tag.

Removal tag or trim tag

The paper on the trunk is one or the other.

A removal tag — the red NOTICE — means the tree comes out. The city often requires the stump ground and a new tree planted in that spot. When planting is required, the city names the specimen. You plant that tree. A different species from the nursery will not pass inspection, even if it is a good tree for the yard.

A trim tag is not “shape it so it looks smaller.” The notice names the circumference, or the size the canopy has to be reduced to. That measurement is what the inspection checks. A heavier cut, or a lighter one, is not the job they wrote down.

South Bay cities watch street trees, sidewalks, and trees an ordinance treats as protected. In San Jose, street trees and designated heritage trees often need city approval before removal. Many private-yard trees do not. We flag when a permit may apply — you confirm with the city. We do not pull permits for you unless that is scoped in writing.

Once that notice is up, the tree is already on a list. Waiting does not shrink the canopy. The lean, the lifted concrete, and the deadwood get worse, and the fix the city will still accept gets narrower.

Overgrown is not the same as dead

A liquidambar or oak that has swallowed the sidewalk light and the neighbor’s roof is often still a sound tree. That is the one you want pruned to the size on the notice while it is still a trim. Once the trunk is failing, the roots have heaved the walk past a simple patch, or the notice already says remove, you are pricing tree removal, stump grinding, and the replacement the city specified.

What to do this week

• Read the notice. Note whether it says remove or trim, the deadline, and the specimen or the size they wrote down.
• Photograph the tag, the trunk, the sidewalk, and the full canopy from the street. If it is a removal, we need the specimen name. If it is a trim, we need the circumference or size they require.
• Do not top it, and do not guess a smaller shape. A hat-rack cut is not the size on a trim tag, and it will not save a tree the city already marked for removal.
• Call the department named on the notice if you are unsure a permit applies. We will tell you when one might. You confirm it.

Street-tree rules are not the same from San Jose to Los Gatos or Campbell. Send the address with the photos so we are quoting the tree the city actually marked.

If it is already past a trim

Say so. We would rather quote the removal, the grind, and the city’s specimen than pretend a heavy reduction will undo a red tag. Planting comes after the stump is out of the way. Grind depth and the chips left in the hole matter, because the inspector is looking for the tree they named, not a hole full of chips.

Start Easy Estimate with photos of the notice and the tree, or call 408-439-6975.