Georgia’s street-tree dimensions describe planting stock, not a pruning prescription
Section 5. 3. 2 of Georgia’s regulations specifies deciduous street or shade-tree stock at least two inches in caliper, measured six inches above finished grade, and at least ten feet tall with the lower five feet clear of branches.
That caliper measurement is not the same as a mature tree’s diameter at breast height. Have the nursery quotation identify the measurement and the intended planting location.
For a Georgia replacement order, a label saying two-inch tree should therefore be checked against the required measurement point and approved species. Do not ask a pruning crew to strip the lower crown of an existing tree merely to imitate a nursery-stock standard. Ask the designer and zoning staff whether the approved planting detail is being met.
A Georgia subdivision spacing example
Section 5. 3. 3 allows the DRB to require suitable hardwood shade trees at intervals of forty feet or less where street trees do not exist.
As a drawing example, a proposed forty-five-foot interval is five feet wider than forty feet. That calculation identifies a question for the reviewed planting plan; it does not establish the number of trees required along an unmeasured road.
For a Georgia tree-removal proposal within that planting line, mark the removed tree and the resulting interval on the approved drawing. Price replacement stock and establishment care separately from dismantling and stump work. Do not count an existing private yard tree as a compliant street planting without the Town’s determination.
| Recorded item | Count or distance |
|---|---|
| Published subdivision interval | 40 ft or less when required by DRB |
| Hypothetical interval on drawing | 45 ft; 5 ft beyond 40 ft |
Rooting space belongs on the Georgia replacement plan
Georgia’s landscaping provisions require the selection to be justified against rooting space, crown and height space, infrastructure, soil and urban conditions. They prefer Vermont-native selections and specify hardiness-zone criteria. A replacement proposal should show which limit led to the selected tree instead of simply replacing the removed species by habit.
The regulations also address salt, compaction and drought tolerance for street trees. Record the actual snow-storage or paved-edge location in the Georgia request, while avoiding a diagnosis based only on road frontage. Ask the arborist whether retention, pruning or replacement meets the site’s objective and approved landscape conditions before ordering the new stock.