Just Do It RIGHT!
Long story short.....some of you know the detail in how I came into the tree care industry.....but in a nutshell, after my childhood lawn/landscape business progressed, I developed a love for trees more than anything. I had pursued education to better myself in the landscape field (Landscape Architecture/Horticulture education). But when I realized I loved trees more than taking care of properties or designing and building landscapes, I slowly began to pursue education in the arboriculture field. I was taken under another arborists "wing" for four years, learning proper tree care, climbing, rigging, plant health care. We did everything from root collar excavations to removals over 33KV (he is line clearance certified). I always believed that if you are going to earn money in a field, you BETTER KNOW THAT FIELD and RESPECT THOSE WHO KNOW THEIR STUFF IN THAT FIELD! The green industry in general has a tendency to attract those who wish to just capitalize on the lack of the general public's knowledge as to the correct methods to design, build, maintain any landscape or urban forest.......
It is very sad.
When I learned to cut grass....I was eight....I started my business with a nice Lawnboy that I fixed up.... I didn't cut hedges, I didn't mulch, I didn't do anything except cut grass...my grandfather trained me to do this correctly.
When he thought I was ready, he taught me how to properly prune shrubs and small trees (with my felco #7's and loppers, and a handsaw). He taught me the difference between shearing and proper pruning.....
The main thing I learned back then was to do it right, and if you didn't know what you were doing....research it, learn from someone how to do it right, then pursue it.
So many times I look at the "landscapers" in my area and wonder if they even know how a blade of grass grows! Do they know how to plant a tree or bush without burying the root collar? Do they know what a root collar is???
I wonder this of the many "tree guys" in the area too...with all of the topping, and the bad cuts, and the over elevation, and the notion that "thinning" means stripping out the interior branches on a tree?? (This of course is NOT how to thin....)
I don't mean to rant, but there are a lot of good tree services in my area that employ proper arboricultural techniques, and are educated.
We are one of them.
If someone asks me to top a tree....I explain why its bad. I educate them. If they don't take my advice, then someone else who is a "tree service" gets the job.....
And that's fine.
Anyone who seeks advice from us will not hear bull**** If we don't know the answer, we research it and find it....not make something up....
I am certain that if the true arborists continue to educate the public one person at a time, one tree at a time, that the industry will progress in a positive manner.
We are arborists. We continually pursue education to advance ourselves in the industry, as well as contribute our findings TO the industry.
By doing this, we earn money while caring for one of the worlds greatest assets: Trees.
If a guy buys a welder and sticks stuff together long enough for the customer to pay him...does that make him a welder????
If you throw a walk behind in your station wagon...are you a landscaper?
You should not be allowed to mulch if you do not know the purpose of mulching......
I could go on and on....
I don't mind anyone who starts out with small equipment. But for goodness sake....pick up a book before you cut that limb.....know why it is good to bisect the branch bark collar and ridge.....its not just because "the water runs off...."
-My fourteen cents......