c/arborists

Showerthought: The new city park plan in Greenville has zero native oaks

I was reading the draft for the Riverside Park redo and saw they're planting 50 red maples and 30 ginkgos... but not a single native oak species. It feels like a big swing towards 'easy' trees that look nice fast, over the long-term stuff that really helps the local bugs and birds. Has anyone else had to push back on a plan like this and get some real natives back in the ground?

PSA: The 'one third' rule for root flare exposure is a starting point, not a law.

I see so many crews in my area hack away at the base of a tree until they hit flare, even if it means exposing roots 8 inches down. Watched a crew do this to a red maple last fall, leaving a giant, unstable crater. The tree was leaning badly by spring. You have to read the tree and the soil type, not just follow a number. How do you judge when enough is enough on a mature tree?

Read a study that said a mature oak tree can transpire over 40,000 gallons of water a year. Found it in an old forestry journal at the library.

Saw a huge hackberry in Cincinnati with a weird girdling root problem

I was walking through Eden Park last week and noticed this massive hackberry with almost no leaves on one side. Got up close and saw a root the size of my forearm wrapping tight around the base, about 6 inches above the soil. It had dug into the bark a good inch deep. The park crew had put mulch right up against the trunk, which probably hid it for years. Has anyone else had luck saving a tree from a girdler that big, or is it usually too late by then?

Rant: My neighbor said to just cut the roots on his big maple and now the whole thing is leaning

He had this huge silver maple in his yard in Toledo and was sure the surface roots were a trip hazard. I told him we needed to do a full assessment, maybe air spade some soil, but he said his old landscaper friend told him to just saw the big ones off. So he did, about a 4 inch diameter root on the windward side. Now, after that big storm last week, the tree has a solid 10 degree lean. I mean, I saw it coming but he wouldn't listen. Anyone dealt with a situation like this and know if a cable system could even save it at this point?

Had to choose between a squirrel's nest and a power line during a storm trim in Cincinnati

Went with the nest, spent the next hour watching a very angry mom squirrel glare at me from a nearby branch while I finished the job. Anyone ever had a critter hold a grudge like that?

I was working on a big oak in Springfield last fall and the hinge wood just gave out

It was a removal job for a big old white oak, maybe 30 inches across. I had my notch cut, my back cut started, and I was feeling good. Then the whole thing just cracked and sat back on my bar before I could even get a wedge in. My ground guy yelled, and I jumped back. The tree went the opposite way I planned, right over a fence. It missed the neighbor's shed by maybe two feet. I stood there for a solid minute just staring. I realized I got lazy and didn't check for internal rot on the side facing away from me. Now I always drill a small pilot hole on the back side to check, even if the bark looks fine. Has anyone else had a tree sit back like that from hidden decay?

Tried a new climbing hitch on a big white oak in Atlanta last week

I was rigging down a 40 inch DBG oak and decided to test a Blake's hitch instead of my usual VT. The rope grabbed way harder than expected, making my descent super jerky and almost locking up completely. I had to really work to get a smooth controlled drop. Anyone have a preferred hitch for big wood like that?

A homeowner in Portland showed me a weird root flare issue on her maple

I was doing a routine inspection last month and she pointed out how the soil was mounded up around the base, almost like a volcano. She said, 'My last arborist told me this was fine, but it just looks wrong.' We gently excavated it and found the root flare was buried a good 8 inches deep. Has anyone else run into a 'mulch volcano' that deep on a mature tree?

Saw a city crew butchering a mature oak on Elm Street

I was driving through the old part of town yesterday and had to pull over. A city crew was topping a beautiful pin oak that must have been 60 years old. They were just hacking off the top third, leaving these huge, ragged cuts. No proper drop crotch cuts, nothing. I asked the foreman what the plan was and he said 'just making it safe'. It's going to be a mess of suckers and decay in two years. Has anyone had any luck talking sense into municipal crews about this stuff?

Hot take: I've been using a cheap spray bottle for bark beetle spray and it's way better than the expensive gear.

I mean, I know it sounds nuts. We had a bad beetle year here in Boise, and my usual backpack sprayer broke on the third job. I was in a bind and grabbed a two dollar spray bottle from the hardware store, the kind for plants. I thinned the permethrin mix a bit more, like 10% extra water, and just went for it on a big old ponderosa. Idk, maybe it's just me, but the control was way finer. I could get right into the crevices without overspraying the whole trunk. It took longer, sure, but after a week I checked and the new pitch tubes had stopped. I've been using it on smaller target jobs ever since. Has anyone else tried something this basic and had it actually work better than the 'right' tool?

Just realized I've been sharpening my handsaw wrong for years

I was cutting a big oak limb in Springfield last Tuesday and the saw kept binding, so my buddy Mike watched me work. He pointed out I was filing the teeth at a 20 degree angle when this saw needs 15. Has anyone else had a tool manual give you the wrong specs?

A client in Tacoma told me my stump grinding was too shallow

Honestly, I was just doing what I always did, grinding about 4 inches down for a basic lawn replant. This guy stopped me and said, 'You're leaving a tombstone for the next guy.' He showed me where an old maple stump he didn't fully remove 8 years ago was still causing his mower to bounce. Tbh, it clicked. Now I go a solid 8-10 inches minimum unless the specs say otherwise. It takes longer and uses more teeth, but it's right. Anyone else get called out on a habit they didn't even know was a problem?

Had to choose between a new climbing saw or a full set of rigging gear for the truck.

I went with the rigging gear and it saved a whole day on a big oak removal in Tucson last month, but man, my arms still remember that climb with the old saw. Anyone else ever had to make a gear call that paid off way later?

Heard a guy at the nursery call a tree wound dressing 'tree band-aids' and it clicked

I was picking up some bare root stock yesterday and overheard a customer asking about sealing a big pruning cut, and the nursery worker just said 'those tree band-aids don't really help it heal, they just make us feel better.' I'd always been taught to use the stuff, but now I'm second guessing. What's the real deal on wound dressings for big cuts over 3 inches?

Overheard a landscaper call a Bradford pear a 'good shade tree' and I almost choked

I was grabbing a coffee yesterday and the guys at the next table were planning a big job for a new subdivision. One of them, not an arborist, said they were planting a row of Bradford pears because they're 'fast growing and make good shade.' I had to physically stop myself from turning around. We all know those things are basically ticking time bombs with their weak structure and terrible smell. It made me think about how often bad tree advice gets passed around by well meaning people in other trades. Has anyone else had to gently correct a landscaper or client on a choice like that?

Vent: A big oak in my neighbor's yard taught me a hard lesson about soil compaction

Three years ago, I took a job to prune a mature white oak in a new housing development outside of Raleigh. The ground looked fine, just some fresh sod. I spent a whole day up there, doing what I thought was a good structural prune. Came back last week for a different job a few streets over and saw it. The tree is in serious decline, maybe 40% canopy loss. I talked to the homeowner, and it turns out the builder had parked a dump truck full of gravel right over the root zone for two months during construction. I had just looked at the tree, not the whole site history. Now I ask about soil work and equipment storage from the past five years before I even give a quote. What's the best way you all check for that kind of hidden damage on a residential call?

Finally got through a full day of climbing without my hands cramping up once

After six weeks of doing those grip exercises with the stress ball, I managed a big oak prune in Tacoma without having to stop and shake out my hands, which felt like a huge win.

I was sure a 3/4 inch rope was overkill for my rigging setup

Honestly, I used a 1/2 inch line for years on smaller jobs, thinking it was lighter and just fine. Last week, I had to drop a big oak limb over a shed in Springfield, and my old foreman kept telling me to switch to the thicker rope. I finally listened, and the extra strength made the whole controlled descent way smoother, with zero worrying about a snap. Tbh, I felt dumb for arguing about it for like 20 minutes. Has anyone else had a rigging choice they fought against that actually worked out better?

Finally got to test a battery-powered pole saw against my old gas one on a big willow job in Springfield

The battery saw was way quieter and lighter, which made a huge difference working over a client's patio for three hours straight, so what other battery tools are actually worth the switch for climbing work?

Warning: I thought the new tree growth regulator was just a sales pitch for a while.

A city job in Tacoma had us treat some maples on a tight street, and the reduction in pruning cycles was real, like going from every 18 months to over 3 years. I was wrong to brush it off just because it seemed fancy. Has anyone else seen results that changed their mind on a product like this?

Shoutout to the old-timer who told me to listen to the tree more than the client

He said, 'The tree will tell you what it needs if you're quiet for a minute,' after I rushed a big oak prune in Cincinnati. Has anyone else had a piece of advice that slowed you down for the better?

Watching a crew in Charlotte use a speedline to clear a backyard completely flipped my view on rigging.

I was sure setting up a zip line for every branch was overkill, but after seeing them clear a pin oak over a garage in under two hours without a single ground impact, I'm sold. What's the most efficient rigging setup you've seen for tight spaces?

TIL that a single mature oak tree can host over 500 different species of insects and other animals. Read it in a forestry journal at the library yesterday.

Appreciation post: My 15-year-old climbing rope finally gave out on a big oak removal last Tuesday.

It was a clean break about 8 feet from the end, and I had to switch to my backup line to finish the job. Anyone else have a piece of gear you trusted for years that finally quit on you?