Having worked in and around trees for almost ten years both in Europe and in North America, I feel I have a good understanding of arboriculture and how trees should be managed both in rural and urban settings.
Sadly, and frustratingly, it appears many companies, including "expert" and "preservation" companies have little or no idea what they are doing when it comes to tree care. This includes company owners, sales reps and tree crews alike. However, due to the ignorance of the majority of property owners, 'tree guys' are being able to carry out bad tree work and perform unnecessary tree removals without any kind of quality control, and at such rate that the push for consistent production is keeping the cost of work low and the rate of pay for all involved even lower.
The same appears to be true of plant 'health care'. Unnecessary treatments are being sold to customers and applied without any regard for the wider implication of the affect to the environment. There should be no chemical applications for the control of insects, fungae or diseases; none, not ever. The fact that the two largest tree companies in North America develop applications and treatment strategies in laboratories is shocking and should not be allowed to happen. However, with most processed food being produced by pharmaceutical companies, and sold in grocery stores owned by said companies, it is easy to understand why many short-sighted and small-minded people do not see the problem of integrated pest management and plant health care regimes. Repeated applications of a chemical to 'kill' a naturally occurring seasonal fungus so that a customer can enjoy greener leaves on their tree or shrub and charging hundreds of dollars for a few minutes work is immoral and should be illegal.
The more I learn about trees and the world in which they grow, the more I despair for our planet and grow increasingly despondent for an industry that should be as well respected as any of the medical professions. Most people care which physician they take their family to, or which veterinarian they take their pet to, so surely the same should be true of tree care professionals? The problem is that anyone can say they are a tree care professional; any person with a cutting tool can claim they know how to prune a tree. Being a "tree expert" requires no higher education; no universally accepted and approved qualifications; no time as a student, resident or junior like the medical profession. Surely this is wrong and must change?
Does any one else think the arboricultural industry needs to be brought out of the dark ages and into the 21st century?
Today I passed a worker for one of the largest companies locally; no ppe, cutting some wood with a chainsaw; cigarette hanging out of his mouth. The rest of his crew were around the back of the property; one on ladders using a chainsaw above their head making seemingly random cuts on a large scaffold branch - stripping it out to become a text book example 'lion's tailed'; another swinging around in the upper canopy of a perfectly healthy conifer, one-arming his chainsaw to make random cuts of healthy branches throughout the canopy. It was a depressing sight and I feel sorry for the customer who has presumably paid good money for bad and pointless work.
On a positive note, I am setting up my own company and my aim is to increase the standard of tree care here in Seattle and hopefully beyond. Arborists should be held accountable for bad and unnecessary work, and I hope that it is not too long before claiming to be an "expert" is something that has to be earned through rigorous education, examination and peer review, not just self-professed.
Thank you for reading some of my thoughts.
