Cheaper Isn’t Always Better
Define a Professional Almost every professional in their industry can talk at great lengths about the issues they see on a daily basis. The ethical issues that give the profession a bad name. The companies that claim to be the cheapest. The unprofessional work that is sold as ‘quality service at a reduced cost’. The only problem is that this cheap service, or the service billed at a reduced cost, doesn’t always match up with the client’s desired outcome. To have the cheapest, somewhere there is a tactic used to cut corners. Here’s another way to look at it – Cheap labor isn’t skilled. Skilled labor isn’t cheap. So how does this pertain to something as simple as trimming trees? We should look at this as not too dissimilar of one’s approach in seeking a medical professional to take care of our children. Our trees are a living and breathing organism, are they not? They require nourishment and loving care, allowing them to grow into the family member they’re meant to be, right? Why, then, would we want to cut corners and skimp on care that could mar or permanently disable them for life? Turns out tree care isn’t so simple, is it. A Tale of Two Potential Outcomes Let’s tell a story many of us can relate to, whether a personal or an acquaintance’s encounter. John has a majestic Bradford pear in his front yard. It’s the most beautiful tree in the neighborhood, with a perfect shape that is the envy of everyone on the block. John has noticed that over the years the tree has started to encroach on his roof line, along with the service line in front of his house. Not wanting issues with either critters accessing his attic, or the risk of taking out the neighborhood power in a wind storm, he decides it’s time to prune the tree. Now John has an idea of what he wants the tree to look like. So, he gets out his smart phone and types “tree trimming” into the search bar and up comes a dozen names. As most consumers, he starts calling the numbers for quotes. Some of those phone numbers give a price over the phone, sight unseen while some give a price after John has texted them photos. Some come out and give John a price written on the back of a scrap piece of paper or business card, while one or two hand him a written proposal. After getting all this pricing, John, again as a consumer with a budget, picks the cheapest of the bunch – Slash ‘N Dash Tree Service. With tomorrow set as the big day, he anxiously spends a sleepless night thinking about his majestic tree and how good it will look tomorrow. The morning arrives, as does the crew representing the company. Pickup trucks, trailers, ladders and tools are distributed around his property and with little ado they don their climbing gear consisting of a climbing saddle, lanyard, climbing rope and climbing gaffs. Like monkeys with chain saws, the climbers swiftly attack the areas of concerns, cutting limbs that drop to the ground like spring snow. Groundmen quickly take the dismembered limbs and toss them into awaiting trailers, raking the grass and planters clear of smaller debris. All in all, this took a little over an hour. Just as quickly as they arrived, they depart with the same speed after holding out a hand to receive a check from John. A Gullible Guy Heard this story before? Hold on, the best is yet to come. As weeks turn into months, John noticed that the once perfectly shaped tree was taking on the image of Igor, hump and all. Not only that, sap was oozing from the trunk and the ends of some limbs looked like they’d been hit with a blow torch. So he called Slash ‘N Dash Tree Service but no one returned his messages left on voicemail. By this time John was beginning to panic. He called around, finding a Certified Arborist that for a small fee would look at his tree. Remember the climbing gaffs the climbers used? They tore wounds in the trunk and the oozing sap was the trees’ attempt at healing the gouges. Remember the tools strewn over the front lawn? Well, the crew had pruned a diseased tree and didn’t clean them, passing fire blight onto the pear. And Igor’s hump? By cutting only specific areas without regards to the entire crown, it developed an imbalance in shape. So where is John’s crown jewel of the neighborhood today? He still has it, but it’s going through a long process of healing and pruning in the hopes it might become great again. The Cliff Notes The point of the story? As professionals in the tree care industry, we see these horrific but preventable stories every day. By making yourself aware of the long-term effect of hiring the first and cheapest company you talk to, the chances of you learning the hard lesson of John diminish greatly. Do your research. Make referral calls. Look at reviews. But more importantly – make sure you are hiring a true professional that has the education, knowledge, expertise and all the required licenses and insurance required to take care of your precious commodity – your trees. They are your children.
When Disease Comes Calling: How Healthy Trees Get Sick
Arborists have long attempted to portray how trees live as a reflection of how humans live. Trees, like humans, need sustenance, care and a healthy diet or else they can become sick from an onslaught of potentially life threatening bacterial and viral diseases that can be airborne or vectored (wind, birds,insects. insects and tools). People should know their trees and what type of diseases can infect them. Let me share a not too uncommon story about how a once healthy tree comes down with a severe case of a bacterial infection. Good Intentions Over the spring weekend, Mac noticed that his Bradford pear had branches that were hanging close to his roof line, causing concern for both him and his insurance company. He decided that when his landscaping company came Monday to mow the lawn and hedge his shrubs, he’d ask them to trim the pear back from the roof line. Monday arrived and the landscapers showed up, unloading their equipment for the weekly service. Mac approached Bobby, the foreman, with the request and received a “no problem” in response. In a short time an extension ladder, rusty power hedgers, worn pole pruner and a pair of dull loppers appeared. After a few cuts the roof was cleared. Satisfied, Mac gave the crew an extra $40.00 for the work. Problem solved, thought Mac. Or was it .. Spring turned into summer, summer into fall. With Halloween approaching, Mac started planning out his annual scary outdoors display. Included was a feature where a ghost flys down from his chimney to the same pear tree trimmed by his landscapers in spring. With a cable in hand, Mac climbed his A-frame ladder to attach it to the tree when he noticed what appeared to be burned branch segments on the pruned side of the tree. The closer he looked, the more they looked like they had been scorched with a blow torch. Shrugging his shoulders, Mac didn’t give it a second thought. After he attached the cable and climbed off the ladder, he looked at the rest of the tree but didn’t see any other foliage with similar appearance anywhere else. But as he glanced over to the pyrcantha hedge that wrapped around the front of his house, he also noticed a similar burnt appearance on the ends of branches. Now he was perplexed. Transmission of a Disease So what happened? When Mac’s landscapers came to his house that spring day, they had just trimmed pyracantha and crab apple at another property that were infected with a bacterium called Fireblight. The bacteria remained onto their pruning tools. When those same tools touched Mac’s tree and shrubs, they became infected. Stories like this happen every single day. Signs like tree trunks turning black are often indicative of fungal infections or diseases like Fireblight, which may affect the entire tree if not treated promptly. How to Reduce Risks So how can we avoid cases like this? First, we need to pay attention to the species of trees and shrubs we have, along with knowing what diseases they can contract. In today’s age of the Internet, looking up that info is relatively easy. Second, if you hire someone to maintain your trees and shrubs, make sure they know diseases and enter your property with sterilized tools. You’d be aghast if you knew how many so called ‘professionals’ don’t know the first thing about diseases. We understand it’s impossible to protect your property from diseases that are vectored in by the wind, birds or insects. However, if you or your professional do the following things you can reduce the risk of infecting your trees and shrubs*: You’d no sooner let a medical professional treat your or your family with an unsterilized tool – why treat your trees and property any different? * source: Dr. Linda Chalker-Scott, “Sterilized Pruning Tools: Nuisance or Necessity?”
COVID-19 Update
A Message to our Customers We want to assure you that we remain open and ready to serve because our company is considered an essential service provider. As such, we will continue to provide all our customers at home or work the highest level of tree care service in your community. All of our outside tree workers and estimators have been instructed to closely follow the recommendations of the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) for protecting themselves and others. These recommendations include avoiding exposure to others (Safe Social Distancing), wearing gloves or frequent and thorough hand washing and the use of hand sanitizer, disinfecting wipes and cleaners. We wish you the best of health and look forward to providing you the best tree trimming and removal service during this difficult time.
Pruning Your Fruit Trees
How, When, Why to Prune Fruit Trees Many people love the idea of having fresh fruit growing in their backyard orchard. For the experienced, maintaining their labor of love is easy. For the inexperienced, they soon realize it’s something more like love to labor. It’s like raising a child – there are years of training, shaping them for their development, all while warding off pests and diseases that will shorten their lifespan. This work hopefully leads to something that bears good fruit. Well, maybe raising a child doesn’t require pruning off limbs, thinning out the insides and heading from time to time (although sometimes we’re tempted…….). But your trees do. So, let’s talk about the basics. Winter is usually the preferred time to trim, as you are priming the tree for spring growth. You can trim during the growth season but remember that could possibly reduce fruit development along with opening up the tree to outside pests and diseases. Step One: Cleaning up the tree Step Two: Thinning out the interior Step Three: Heading back the crown Think you’re done? Not quite. Make sure you dispose of all the cuttings to ensure that any diseases that they might contain do not linger around the property. And speaking of diseases – treat your tools in a solution of isopropyl alcohol before moving onto another tree. And consider using dormant oil. It is a non-toxic spray, applied via a pump sprayer that helps control insects such as scale and mite that can damage the tree. Generally, it is applied in late winter/early spring, but follow the MSDS label for application information. Not sure if you want to tackle the job? Call one of our certified arborists if you live in our service area. They will know the ins and outs of trimming your trees, whether they fruit or not. They are trained in tree pruning to ANSI standards. Once you master this, you’ll not look at the trees as next year’s firewood but as this year’s bounty. Remember the rule when picking – two for the bucket, one for the mouth. Bon appetite!
Tip Top Arborists honored with TCIA accreditation
In June 2021, Tip Top Arborists, Inc started the process of becoming an accredited tree care company under the Tree Care Industry Association (TCIA) Tree Care Company Accreditation program. While Tip Top Arborists, Inc has been a member of the TCIA since January 1995, we felt that it was time to work for the highest honor in the tree care industry. That honor was achieved January 2022. What is TCIA accreditation, and what does it mean to our customers? It means that Tip Top Arborists, Inc adheres to the highest industry standards for quality and safety, is dedicated to ethics and quality in business practices, maintains a fleet of OSHA/CHP inspected vehicles and has a trained, professional staff from the office to the field. The extensive review looked at all aspects of the company operation. It looked at aspects, not limited to: Company business plan Accounting Ethics Insurance Safety Policy Training Quality Control Safety Regulatory Professional Image As a measure of protection to homeowners, businesses undergo renewal check-ups annually. The annual renewal ensures that the company continues to employ trained professionals, is still properly insured and has a good safety and consumer satisfaction rating. Accredited tree care companies must also re-apply every three years so that their practices can be reviewed and the continuation of best business practices can be verified.