What is a certified arborist? We’re glad you asked! It’s one of the most highly asked questions within our business that we want to teach you more about. If you’ve ever wanted someone to come out and check up on your trees and plants, these are the people you look to. If you’ve ever needed someone to help with tree education and teach you how to properly inspect your own trees, there’s no one better for the job than an arborist.
In this blog, we will explain what a certified arborist is and why you should care about asking one for help with tree removal, tree healthcare, and much more.
Who Are They and What Do They Do?
If you are a parent, you normally take your kids to the doctor to get a check-up in order to see if everything is healthy or to diagnose an illness. An arborist is like a doctor for trees. Arborists are trained to diagnose trees, shrubs, and other woody plants. and care for them so that they thrive.
If a tree disease is diagnosed by the arborist, then there is typically a healthcare routine to help bring it back to life, but sometimes the tree must be removed. Whether it’s saving a dying oak tree from a bad disease or educating someone about how to trim a red maple properly, arborists keep our green spaces healthy, beautiful, and safe.
An arborist gains their education through a practical and extensive hands-on experience to study the nature we have on our planet. It’s a very physical job that requires hours of proper and honest inspection to make sure you are given the best analysis of what to do next with your trees if they have a problem.
Here are a few things an Arborist might do:
Tree Planting
When an arborist is planting trees, they do this for the appropriate type of tree species in the right locations. They factor in soil, climate, and the space of the environment in which they are planted it which could guarantee long-term growth.
Tree Pruning & Trimming
Tree pruning and tree trimming can be categorized in the same way and revolve around an arborist removing the parts of the tree that are damaged, dead from disease, or branches that negatively affect the tree because they are too big for example. It’s a process that is done when the tree becomes a danger to people and other utilities/infrastructure it’s around.
Tree Removal
Tree removal is when those hazards become an even bigger risk, and arborists will make that call on the spot when they see that a tree is suffering too much.
Plant Healthcare
Arborists examine trees to identify invasive insects, diseases that could be caused by the insects or specific weather patterns, structural damage, and when the analysis is fully complete, they develop a treatment to care for the tree or call for its removal.
Arborists often work with the local, state, and federal governments and can stretch across any region in a specific part of a state. Our certified arborists here in Buffalo and WNY can work in many different towns. East Aurora, Orchard Park, Amherst, Williamsville, Clarence, Getzville, Lancaster, Snyder, Kenmore, Town of Tonawanda, City of Tonawanda, North Tonawanda, Depew, West Seneca, or Cheektowaga.
Arborists tend to work in urban forestry areas, city parks, neighborhoods, and also in rural areas where tree care might not be as sought upon. With the effects of weather and other aspects of climate taking a toll on the environment, an arborist is someone we recommend everyone reach out to whenever they get the chance. The health and preservation of trees and the environment is key to an even brighter future for the planet.
What Questions You Should Ask an Arborist
There are many jobs where the idea of the customer asking as many questions as possible is actually the best thing you can offer to the professionals on hand. When arborists are asked a lot of questions, it makes them light up greener than any of the trees they analyze.
Ask them about rare tree diseases, why certain invasive insects attach to specific trees and not others. You can ask the best way to care for your tree. Most importantly, the first question you should ask of them every time is what can be done to prevent the tree from being removed. The health and preservation of trees come first before the removal. That’s always the best way to start the conversation.
If you want to get in touch with any of them, please contact us anytime with whatever questions you have, and we will be more than happy to help!