TREE CARE MANAGEMENT
Utilize the‘ slow’ winter months to‘ speed up’ your tree safety and risk programs
By Greg Carbone and Nick Martin
Photo credit © Adobe Stock- scandamerican
When do I start? Now!
As we approach fall( for most locations in the U. S.), it is a crucial time to plan and budget for tree inspections. We have trees on our properties that have survived typical summer storm events and even extreme wind events and hurricanes. The leaves on the trees can hide structural issues that may be compromising the trees and creating safety and risk concerns. Plan now for inspecting your trees during the dormant season( winter) so you can reduce safety and risk concerns moving into next spring.
How do I start? With a tree inspection by a qualified arborist.
To plan effectively for winter tree inspections, you first need to contact a professional, qualified arborist. The tree care industry has numerous certifications and qualifications that you can use to help determine which professional arborist or company to work with. While not every credential is required to inspect your trees, it is recommended that those individuals be, at a minimum, an International Society of Arboriculture( ISA) Certified Arborist and ISA Tree Risk Assessment Qualified( TRAQ).
Once you have narrowed down your list of professional and qualified arborists, it is time to select an appropriate fit. Professional arborists and companies will want to perform a“ needs assessment” with you to accurately identify your concerns, goals and objectives. Partnering with companies that work locally, have extensive speciesspecific tree knowledge and implement science-based tree care with safety as their No. 1 priority will provide the most effective results.
It is a great idea to focus on inspecting for safety and risk concerns during the dormant season due to the increased visibility from the ground. The most common issues to look for are large dead, broken or hanging branches. New cracks or splits in the tree may now be visible. The overall tree architecture can be observed and corrective recommendations made Finally, while dead trees can be identified at any time of year, they should also be noted in the inspection. The overall goal is to identify tree issues that need to be addressed immediately or within the next growing season. Common recommendations will be tree pruning, removal and the installation of structural support systems.
What do I do after the priority trees are identified? Partner with local experts to safely implement the recommendations.
If you did your homework and partnered with a professional company for the inspection, you are already in a good place. The most important factors to look for when selecting a partner were previously described. However, focusing on safety, sciencebased procedures and local, species-specific knowledge are crucial.
What should we do once we are in the growing season? Create a comprehensive management plan.
Identification of immediate tree pruning, support and removal needs is best done during the dormant season. Once you are into the growing season, the best practice is to create a comprehensive management plan( or tree care plan). Many potential issues, such as soil, plant health, pests and diseases, are best observed during the growing season.
The fieldwork, called a tree inventory, is where you start, and it is typically conducted by a qualified consulting arborist( specifically trained in tree inventories, recommendations, plans, tree risk assessments, etc.). As a baseline, the tree location, species, condition, conditions of concern and prioritized tree care recommendations should be provided. However, the site, soil and plant health care should also be evaluated. Soil issues often lead to the other issues that we commonly see in other parts of the trees.
Once the fieldwork is completed, the consulting arborist reviews all the information to create a plan for the site. They should work with their local team to focus on the species-specific needs. A good plan typically prioritizes tree care based on the client and site needs over a three- to five-year period. For example, trees interfering with buildings may always be a top priority, but some clients may place a higher priority on structural pruning of younger trees because of the cost-effectiveness and the focus on addressing small concerns before they become large issues.
Where do we go now? Implement routine tree care, inspections and planning.
Once you are presented with the management plan, it is now time to work with your professional arborist on implementation. Implementation of a tree management plan is a year-round, proactive approach. As with the identification of structural issues, there are specific times of the year to implement certain tree, soil and plant health care treatments. The initial management plan is a great place to start. However, since our sites and trees are changing all the time, the plans should too. Management plans
are living documents, and to be truly proactive, routine tree inspections need to be conducted so accurate and up-to-date plans can be created. All tree care treatments implemented should also be tracked for record-keeping purposes.
Believe it or not, focusing on soil and plant health care treatments from a speciesspecific approach will help you reduce the safety and risk concerns of the trees on your site. Many tree-related concerns can be traced back to soil-related issues or other predisposing plant health care issues. Implementing a proactive, cyclical approach of inspection, identification and implementation will help you stay on top of the trees on your sites.
Greg Carbone is vice president of commercial accounts for Bartlett Tree Experts, where he leads a team of more than 40 commercial arborists supporting client partnerships across the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and Ireland. With more than 34 years of experience in the green industry, Carbone brings extensive expertise in commercial landscape and tree care management.
Nick Martin is vice president of consulting for Bartlett Tree Experts, where he leads a team of 70 highly credentialed consulting arborists throughout the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and Ireland. With more than 15 years of experience inventorying and assessing trees, Martin specializes in developing long-term tree care plans that help clients manage and preserve valuable tree resources.