How many TreeLadies out there?

[Rob Murphy]

phoenix palm thorn/spike

Bermie :Thorn is to nice a word
Ouch...I backed into a phoenix palm spike and it stabbed (and i mean stabbed) near the archilles tendon in lower calf muscle about boot top height. I was in such pain:bang: I had just said to the guy i was working with to be carefull of the spikes! But hey i am now contract climbing so I kept working. That was two months ago and there is still a lump and sharp pain at times. I am begininging to think something is still in there
What do U think??

 

[Kate Butler]

robellini thorn

Absolutely, sounds like you have a piece of the thorn that's still in your leg. You ought to have it checked out.

 

[Bermie]

Rob - yes, get that checked out, especially if it went in deep! Puncture wounds need close attention as the bits can get in and stay in deep. You never quite know what nasties might have gotten in there too.

Here's a pic of the last palm to get me, beautiful specimen with hidden menace! The thorn went in my forearm 'along the grain' so to speak, too painful to pull out myself, The other one went in 90 degrees into the elbow joint, almost came out the other side but missed everything vital thank God, it broke off under the skin and I couldn't bend my arm. I'm going to add danger pay for the next one!

Treeman, what a great story you have, it just proves the point that we can all learn something from each other, I like it that your situation helped build teamwork where you work, we all need more of that.

 

[vharrison2]

Bermie, great thread! Keep the pictures coming. I know all to well about those thorns, they are very painful. We do charge quite a bit extra for the Phoenix Canariensis, won't touch them for under $ 250.00. It is our way of saying we don't like trimming them!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canary_Island_Date_Palm

 

[Bermie]

We've got several Phoenix species here, all introduced, very architectural in the landscape, very much in demand

P. canariensis
P. roebellenii
P. dactylifera
P. reclinata

And they ALL BITE!

 

[vharrison2]

Bermie, we have those here in Marathon as well, and you are right they bite!

 

[Rob Murphy]

P. canariensis

Yep those look like the ones Bermie!! Mine was a P. canariensis.
Yeah i figured i have to get it checked..but no need to rush into these things.
Hey treeman I use a lot of sign language too. Good on ya mate!! good to see people who challenge the mould.

 

[VTclimber]

I'm a tree lady living in Northern VA. Just got my CA certificate in the mail last week. Worked for one of the big three for about a year, now I work for the State Parks. Lookin to get a job paying more where I can use the CA. There is one other tree lady around here that I know of, and she a beast. Pretty freakin good climber. Now the only climbing I really do is in my yard and for neighbors, when my husband lets me And for the record, I got him into the bus, and not the other way around.

 

[vharrison2]

VTclimber, CONGRATULATIONS on getting your Certified Arborist certificate. That is awsome.

 

[Bermie]

Hi VT, nice to meet you, what do you do - 'working in the State Parks'? Forgive my ignorance, but our parks are pretty small so it's interesting to hear what others do.

Vharrison, do you ever have to work on ficus trees? If so, how do you get rid of all the sticky sap thats all over everything when you're done?

 

[vharrison2]

Hi VT, nice to meet you, what do you do - 'working in the State Parks'? Forgive my ignorance, but our parks are pretty small so it's interesting to hear what others do.

Vharrison, do you ever have to work on ficus trees? If so, how do you get rid of all the sticky sap thats all over everything when you're done?

Bermie, I asked the guys what they use and they said Tecnu works great.

 

[Bermie]

Thanks - I'm assuming they're using the tecnu on the machinery? I would be a bit careful using anything on the textiles.
Ive actually washed everything, rope,harness,splittails chucked it all in the washing machine with just warm water, my rope and splittail are still a bit sticky, maybe when the stuff dries a bit it'll wear off!
Ta

 

[Asa]

Hi,
First gotta say thanx Fiona great tread!

I totally agree that to work in a male dominated business you just get on with it. I work with some great guys and most people, both coworkers and clients appreciate that there are some female climbers.

A couple of years ago I worked with another climbing girl in the company. Even though I dont mind working with guys it was even better with one more girl in the team. When we went out together as the "Girls team" to fell massive oaks I can assure you people raised their eyebrows

Some of the guys have told me they really appreciate to have a girl working with them, one said it creates a better atmosphere. On the few occasions when there's been patronizing remarks I've ignored them and just worked on, that should speak for itself. Even though some have been a bit skeptical at first, after they have seen I can handle the work I've felt accepted. Whats you other female climbers experiences, any difficulties getting employed etc. ?

 

[VTclimber]

I'm a resource manager for the parks. I deal with invasive species, deer population, trail management and protection, fire activity, GIS....lots of stuff. I just got back from a weeklong wildfire training academy which was pretty cool, except for all the ticks. Now I'm on the stupid lyme disease antibiotics. Feel like crap. I don't really do a whole lot of pruning or delicate tree work here, but we do a lot of clearance in our open fields, and I do some spraying for pesticides and herbicides. Lots of days I wish I was back doing tree work all the time, but there were lots of those days I was wishin I had this job. Nothins perfect I guess.

 

[Bermie]

Hi Asa,
Glad you came to join us! Are you helping that TWTS student after all?
I agree with the sceptisism you get sometimes, but like you say, keep working and it soon goes away!

 

[Bermie]

Here's an example of what I sometimes face being female:
I posted a thread 'pinching my work' besides the basic story of 'landscrapers' trying to pinch my jobs, my client said that when she mentioned to the guys that she would probably get me to take down the tree (30' avocado) they immediately said, 'what, that little girl, no we can do it!'
A little background, a lot of the landscapers, and they're mostly just maintenance crews, come from the Azores (Portuguese). Their culture is male dominated, women are supposed to stay home, clean house make babies and cook. I think some of them feel that I am just wrong to be out doing 'their' work, and that it makes them less of a man if I am doing something they either can't or don't want to do. If I had not been there (on site) today and stood up for myself, I would have lost $200, and my client would have had smashed bananas!

 

[Grizzly]

2 answers:

1: You could well be right, guys do like to see a gal do work they tend to think only they can do, I dismantled two trees overhanging a construction site, rigging, slings pulleys etc. I think the production rate on that site went way down, the guy painting the roof was 'gobsmacked' especially as I was 15 feet over his head and he was two stories up, and, female clients sometimes prefer a gal to do their treework, especially the garden club types. There is definitely some scepticism at first, but as I have worked all my life in male dominated fields, I have found the way - just get on with it.

2: no-one had to persuade me to climb a tree, it looked like fun, I tried it and it is. I'm not afraid of heights, just have a healthy respect for them. After years in landscaping, I was sick of the sight of butchered trees and figured that specializing was one way to do something about it, I like to climb, I can handle machinery, I understand tree biology, ipso facto girl in tree work. Check the why do you climb thread.

Ok, so then when was your last close call while useing your saw in the tree?
Do you dare trim palm trees or do you let your co-workers do that?
Whats the Bigest saw you ever operated?

 

[Bermie]

Ok, so then when was your last close call while useing your saw in the tree?
Do you dare trim palm trees or do you let your co-workers do that?
Whats the Bigest saw you ever operated?

1.Close call
I haven't had a close call with a saw in a tree.
2.Palms
Yes I trim palms, I've got the scars to prove it! What's to dare about it?
3.Biggest saw
MS880 - check the big bar pictures on the chainsaw thread, that was a one off, just playing around.
044 or 046 to fell a huge twin stem turkey oak (in the UK)
290 is the biggest saw I personally own

Any other questions?

 

[pigwot]

I've had two groundspersons who are female over the years I was in the biz. They both brought a calm, reasonable, rspectfulness to my crew. A friend returned from Europe back in 1988 and he and his girlfriend did not have work, so I set him up to take over the cabinetmaking jobs I had lined up, and she was my primary groundsperson for a half a year. She could lower and haul with the best. The other was an ex-marine, ex-union carpenter who was sick and tired of the abuse that industry gave her, endlessly (Lots of insecure male egos in construction I guess). My wife and her husband are both Biology teachers. She worked with me up until their first child was born, and just a week ago called to ask if we could deadwood a massive 200 year old maple that grows over the East side of their old farmhouse. That'll be nice to reconnect after all these years. She used to drive a VW Beetle with a bumper sticker that read, "Uppity Women Unite!"

 

[coveredinsap]

Yes I trim palms, I've got the scars to prove it!

Welllllllll.....let's see 'em!

(just kidding!)