What is an Arborist?

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A little bit of a trapeze artist, a ship's rigger, a nurseryman, self-medicating firstaid responder, a physicist (for predicting loads and movement), a two-cycle mechanic, a pest technician, grave digger, soil scientist,load engineer, grunt laborer, physical therapist, heavy equipment operator, poet and lover.

And that could include all sexual prefences or skin colours.

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Nice one Reed, thats my favorite so far. Add Raconteur ,Troubador and listening ear aswell
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Okay, but they generally are also people who rightiously hate the 9 to 5 robotic mundane idiocy of the great majority of commuting credit enslaved plastic fools.
 
around here an arborist is defined as a drug and alcohol enduced state of being where a human being is willing to do just about anything for money towards there next fix. this continues til they are either placed in a correctional facility or die, ha, well at least thats what ive noticed about most of my fellow climbing commmunity i live amoung, thats what makes this website great because i know your guys arent like that, because if you where you would have sold your computer a while ago for the "good stuff" and would have a 3rd grade reading and writing comprehension

testing the waters on this one, hope none are offended, i guess ill find out
 
Well, looking at the response so far, I guess that maybe I would fall under a Treeworker with arborist tendancies? I've had my position as "city arborist" for a year and have learned a tremendous amount on my own and from seminars. This site has also provided a great amount of information. My next goal is to study for and pass the ISA test.

SirTreeRat - Excellent list, deffinately gives me something to work towards.

Thanks!!
 
Jason,

The ISA Certified Arborist Test is an excellent place to start. I would encourage you to study the book, and listen to the cd's as you read.(that helped me)

I am also a City Arborist, and I've also learned alot from attending seminars and watching/helping out at Tree Climbing Competitions. This is a great way to make new contacts and learn new techniques.

Another learning tool would be, to get involved with your ISA local chapter, there is alot of knowledge with-in your chapter. Learn by getting involved, and having fun with it.
Good Luck.
 
1. An arborist facilitates the coexistence of people and trees.

2. "a professional who possesses the technical competence gained through experience and related training to provide for or supervise the management of trees..." from ISA's Glossary. This eliminates the desk arborist without practical experience and the logger, but includes everyone in between.
 
the desk arborist may have gained the experience that relates directly to his role. As long as he limits the type of work s/he does to this function then an arborist, albeit a specialized arborist, they are.
 
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limits the type of work s/he does to this function then an arborist, albeit a specialized arborist, they are.

[/ QUOTE ]I agree, but when their boss gives them an assignment beyond their expertise what will they do, decline it?
 
Interestingly, the word 'arborist' is barely used outside the profession here on the east side of the Atlantic. Joe Public is far more likely to refer to a tree surgeon.

I came across this comparison of search terms a while ago, which shows fairly clearly that folk in the UK don't go Googling for 'arborist', but for 'tree surgeon'.
 
That is a reality. It is not whether the boss gives them an assignment that is outside of their CURRENT expertise but whether they respond positively and with a learning attitude. How else did any of us develop our skills? By refusing opportunities to learn and grow on the job?
 
"Arborists are people who understand trees, and make decisions, followed by treatments, based on that understanding."

Dr. Alex L. Shigo
 
An "Arborist" should be someone who has a combination of knowledge (current) that enables them to understand tree growth and development.

This would include knowing how to direct and constrain the trees.

Whether or not they understand about the rest of the landscaping and gardening is questionable, but desireable.

I'd even consider many professors to be arborists.

Although I'm not quite sure if my mind can adjust to a professor being an arborist, if they never worked with trees.
 
good thread , but true, 99% of people I have hired cant tell the difference between a maple and an oak. Forget asking them if they know how to use a pole clip or even the correct spot to clip/cut the branch. Most tree guys take a power pole to everything.
 
OK I read about half the replies. The first one put me off immediately, but, to each their own...

I am an arborist: I love trees, I dissect trees, I climb trees, I prune, I study, I enjoy climbing and training. Am I an expert? - no. I continue to learn something new every day: I am an arborist!
 
If you constantly find yourself making up diagnosis about why that tree is dying YOU ARE NOT AN ARBORIST
If you were sent to do an estimate or cut down a maple tree and you learned the hard way that it was an oak tree YOU ARE NOT AN ARBORIST
If you use spikes to trim trees YOU ARE NOT AN ARBORIST
If you still use or don't know what these pruning techniques are:Lion tailing and topping.YOU ARE NOT AN ARBORIST
If you tell your customers "YES" Summer is the best time to trim those trees. Just because you need $$. YOU ARE NOT AN ARBORIST
When trimming a tree you cut off every branch just because it is in your way on ascending into the tree. YOU ARE NOT AN ARBORIST
If you fertilize without doing soil test. YOU ARE NOT AN ARBORIST
If you cant locate the branch collar you are not only an arborist, you should not be aloud to trim trees
Some pics of the local competition pruning techniques in my area. pics below belowlion.webplion2.webp
 
ISA definition works for me: "professional who possesses the technical competence gained through experience and related training to provide for or supervise the management of trees and other woody plants in residential, commercial, and public landscapes." I like climbing more than consulting, but at 63 I'm physically winding down, so I write a lot of reports, which is also fun sometimes. "Arborist" is frequently abused by urban loggers who point to their limited experience or credentials and advise "Remove and Replace" with sketchy 'info' and very little thought. An arborist doesn't have to be a detective, but should be able to inspect and diagnose a tree, learn from it, and interpret that knowledge.

Lists like alegre's are ok, but dangerous if not refreshed--please be open to change. Summer is an EXCELLENT time to prune many trees, for many reasons. Decay moves faster in a dormant tree than an active tree.
 
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Wow! Blast from the past - I believe this was my first post or at least one of the first five. How much has changed and how much has stayed the same in that time. We still have trees being topped and flush cuts being made, but hopefully less and less.

So now to answer my own question 7 years later. An Arborist to me is someone who recognizes a tree as a living organism, realizes that there is a right place and a wrong place to plant a tree and the correct way to plant it. They understand that the job is not done when it's put in the ground, mulch volcanoes are bad! They understand that trees in the urban setting need pruning well before "the other guy" does. They know that those co-doms will be the weak point many years from now. They know that risk can be managed and not every tree needs to come down, and not every tree should stay up. They know how to get them down safely. This is just a few things, have to run.... Oh yeah - They hate turf grass!
 
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