I haven’t logged in quite a while. I have all the answers

[CjM]

Regarding pruning standards, some of the computer software out there now is truly mind blowing; considering factors such as prevailing winds and tomographic data. I've also heard about folks in Europe using infrared sensors in vehicles to help assess the integrity of street trees. Wild stuff.

The folks I've talked to at the vanguard of this technology make it seem like even the resistograph will one day seem arcane, and I get the impression that a lot of current pruning practices will seem like leeches and bloodletting in hindsight. Considering that something like 1% of tree "care" companies are fully TCIA accredited speaks to where we are as a whole. I think Ryan is on the right track, and folks of such a mindset are who I want to learn from and work along side of.

If they care at all. It seems like we are in a streak of rich folks with newly acquired property in mountain top developments that cant settle for less than total destruction. Tree haters!

For real. We could know everything there is to know about trees and their environment, but getting clients on board with the science and more importantly the ethics of pruning is, in my view, the biggest obstacle to changing these practices at scale. Folks don't want to be told that I'm not going to cut anything bigger than maybe 6" in diamater at the trunk, or that subordinating this limb is best done over a period of years. Can't tell you how many folks say they'll be dead (!) by the time the poor pruning they want me to do will be a problem. While I would love to see more licensing and a heightened standard for entry into the industry, I'm not sure that it will grant us the authority that those in say, the medical field enjoy.

I always start any job by asking the client what they see when they look a a tree, and what their vision of a finished job will look like. I often follow up their response by telling them that perhaps they would be better off with a statue than a living, dynamic organism. Some folks still want pruning cuts made at the trunk with the 362, but I've been surprised at how many clients you can get on board with a little education- at the end of the day most folks really care about their trees (even if they have no idea what they're looking at), and want an expert to do well by them. I might be climber or crew leader, but in this regard I'm foremost a salesman.

And while I often find myself advising clients that were it my tree I would leave it alone or only do some air-spade work (well, the cobbler's kid wears no shoes ), trees in the landscape are not in their natural, communal environment- they're just some hardy buggers that still might need special care from time to time.

Now all that being said, no clean up lot clearings are some of the most fun you can have on the work site.

For the most part, working in the industry is a lot like Bridge Over the River Kwai- you just can't loose sight of who you're fighting for.

 

[eastsidetimber]

I do have a negative view of most of our industry like most "industries". Our capitalist society and our place in it means that many arborists are less than ethical in their recommendations for trees and for what trees "need" as far as redirection of growth.

Most of the time yes I can look at a tree and see a few key cuts that could be made that would slightly or occasionally significantly benefit the long term structure of a tree.

But as a contract climber quite often I am put on jobs where trees that have no significant structural defects are listed on the quote as needing "pruning". I usually joke with the crew about being paid by the pound and go for a rec climb up the tree. Perhaps I make a few cuts that are necessary and at times feel the need to take out more to take up time or to put brush on the ground so the customer can see that something was done to their tree to justify the charge. The new cut facing the kitchen window is always best practice right? I think Gilman included that in his latest book.

My point being that I, a Treebuzz aficionado who has been in the industry for 23 years at times feels confused by the blanket statement of "pruning". This is usually on a jobsite with a crew needing hours, a truck and chipper needing payments, and a customer needing their tree to have "work done" are all looking at me the expert. What does the new guy with no education do? They gut the tree. They over reduce the canopy. They over elevate. They take the paid by the pound concept to the extreme.

My solution? More education of the customer, and setting the bar higher for licensure to enter the industry. For there to be zero educational requirements in most states to start or participate in our "industry" is laughable and makes us the last thing anyone would consider a trade. Changing that would be a heck of a start.

Welp, I guess you can kiss your job goodbye then....

 

[Sgfinco]

The way I view our industry is it's our job to help trees and humans occupy the same spaces. Trees certainly don't need our help, but deadwood falling out on people and limbs contacting structures is going to lead to the trees getting pushed out. People think of people first and that's alright, as long as we can do everything we can to help trees co exist in the environment we've created for ourselves.

The way we bid pruning is to ask exactly what the problem our client is looking to solve with amputating live tissue from the tree. Tell them how we prune by working only at the tips unless there is no way around making a larger cut to retain the tree in its location. Then on our work order we write that live cuts will be restricted to no larger than x" in diameter.

We are the people that try to keep our communities from being clear cut. We don't work for the trees, we work for the people and the best thing we can do is educate the people and be an expert on trees and offering solutions to their problems.

An electrician doesn't work for electricity, a plumber doesn't work for pipes. They solve problems that their clients have with them in the best way possible.

Be an expert and don't do hack work.