Arborist Report for Inner Harbor Village Condominium Association

Arborist Report for Inner Harbor Village Condominium Association

Preliminary report for VCA, Port Ludlow, July 22, 2004

During the recent meeting with, Bob Force, President CA board; Mason

Rothenborg, CA VP; Kees Bouterse, IHVCA board member and landscape committee chair; Greg Hupp, IHVCA board member and maintenance committee co-chair, on July 22^nd the following observations were made during the initial walk along the inlet bank.

1) There is a significant amount of "Himalayan Blackberry" growing.

This plant is a problem, as it is aggressively invasive and tends to out compete local native vegetation. Optimally cutting back the vegetative growth and subsequent grubbing out of roots would be beneficial. Large areas of bare ground must be avoided at all costs as this will potentially increase the rate of erosion. Removal of vegetation in any large area should be undertaken in small quantities over a period of time followed by immediate replanting. Plants used for replanting would preferably be native plants of the various species currently thriving in the area.

2) I saw some of the trees which had failed (fallen over) along the bank edge but was unable to inspect them closely due to the above mentioned blackberries.

Cutting out "access paths" to the bank edge where trees have failed would enable a closer inspection of the trees which would possibly lead to a greater understanding of the underlying causes of the erosion problem. Cutting out the access paths should not include removal of roots at this point. The paths need only be wide enough to walk along and preferably, should not be made straight down the slope.

3) Looking at the soils on the bank it was apparent that some soil settling may have occurred since construction of the houses. While I am not an expert on soils I feel that part of the erosion problem could be attributable to natural settling of loose soils which were not compacted during construction of the development. This issue should be addressed by a qualified "Soils Engineer" .

4) There is an area of vegetation which has probably been killed by application of a herbicide. Use of herbicides in this area should be discouraged. Use should only be out of absolute necessity and then, undertaken only by a Wa. State Licensed Applicator.

Much harm could be done to the bank and to the inner harbor waters.

5) I looked at a stump trom a tree which had been felled some time previously and found evidence of a root disease present in the stump. The presence of a root disease problem in an old stump may not represent a major problem, but if it is prevalent throughout the site it could be a cause of the tree failures. For this reason we need the access to the fallen trees through the blackberries to facilitate closer inspection.

6) A large "Douglas Fir" tree and a smaller "Western Hemlock" near the entrance road were discussed, regarding a neighboring "view issue". " Topping" large conifer trees is probably the one singular most damaging act that can be perpetrated on them. They will grow back but with a much denser crown, which would exacerbate the "view conflict" and, over time, would represent a greater hazard to wind damage. From my experience" windowing" a tree with such a narrow crown at the height required would offer precious little improvement to the neighbors view.

During our discussion we talked about Geotech/ Soils Engineers, a company I have worked with previously on a similar type of project is:-

Earth Consultants Inc.

1805 136thPI. NE.

Ste. 101

Bellevue, WA. 98005.

Ph. 425-643-3780

Fx. 425-746-0860

I believe that it will be necessary to contact them in regard to the structural stability of the bank and potential benefits of geotechnical work to help slow or stop the erosion.

I trust you find this information useful and that you will not hesitate to contact me

If I can be of further help,

Respectfully yours,

James Causton. Consulting Arborist.