In this meditation I’ll think through prioritizing tree care on a large scale. Picture specific properties like gardens, parks, golf courses or arboretums. Long lists of tasks can cause anxiety to cover a lot of ground in not so much time or on a limited budget or with limited labor resources. So then, let’s look at programming tree care on a large scale in three different spheres: asking the right questions, using the right tools and seeing the right responses.

What kinds of questions should we be asking? In the context of contractor-to-client conversation, we need to be clear on our role. Now I understand that is no shallow matter for some people, but let’s take it on the surface for now. We can ask our contact at the establishment-maybe it is a horticulturalist, golf course superintendent or crew leader-what our role is. Let them define it. What’s our role in this project of yours? How can I (as an arborist) help you be successful? What’s most important here? What’s your timeframe? What’s your budget? With these types of questions, priorities will begin to arise in the answers from our clients, and with those priorities, the crease of direction will begin to fold in. Imagine you are building a paper airplane that will fly successfully from one tree to another, from one project to the next! With better questions you can build a better airplane, one that flies strait and true and rather durably, even in poor weather.

Of course, these questions are useful in any client/contractor relationship, no matter how big a property. The secret sauce in applying them to the large scale landscape is for better forecasting and planning. The arborist can gain insight into what’s important in terms of a timeline of critical dates (things like events and outtings, special dates, or seasonal operation schedules). With the right questions and the patience to listen intensely, the arborist can peal back layers of importance in order to understand what is the truth in establishing the priorities of tree care prescription.

I’ll take this opportunity for a rough segway into tools. I’ll use the example of tree care on golf courses (because of my personal experience in that area) to illustrate my thoughts about the proper arboriculture tools in a large landscape.

The first tool, and the most important, as I’ve already lightly touched on, is the schedule. The schedule is a very useful tool, almost as much as the handsaw, and this is particular true on golf courses. The schedule of events on a golf course does not just consider daily play volume, or rather when golfers will be coming through the course at particular times. There are other things to consider (depending on the establishment) such as special events like a wedding, a special golf tournament or baby/wedding showers. Maybe someone wouldn’t think too kindly of you blowing a dead limb out fifty yards from their engagement dinner, or in the middle of a backswing. And so the schedule of events is a great place to start when prioritizing what type of work can be done, and when. High traffic areas may be best prioritized on days when the course is closed, or at least when it opens late, or is least busy. This obviously depends on the nature/severity of the situation. Obviously, some things like storm damage or tree failure or invasive species infestation can’t wait, but general maintenance sometimes can. With a solid schedule, those things are revealed.

The schedule is sometimes an overlooked tool but it can be the secret to helping your clients be successful. Many times, in the situation of tree care on golf courses, a contracted arborist is helping the golf course superintendent to be successful. In order to do that, especially at a private club, the superintendent will need to keep his membership and administration/board of directors happy, included and informed. When all of those parties involved witness the successful execution of a well thought out plan that results in healthy trees and a safe environment directly noticeable throughout the landscape at large, we have done our job as an arborist, and the superintendent has done theirs as well. It is a win/win situation which will cultivate a thriving future business relationship.

The contract climber can thrive in the large landscape with a few simple, low-impact tools. When I think of working in the canopy of the private golf course, or when I reminisce on my few experiences working at arboretums, I think of the enjoyable, unmatched serenity of the atmosphere. Quiet and peaceful, and it is no wonder many golfers or garden-goers like that environment as well. Loud chainsaws and chippers, although they have their place, can cause anxiety in that peaceful environment. So then, you can imagine the benefit of quiter tools like the handsaw and hands pruners and pole clips, manual hedge shears, or even the constantly developing battery powered tools available to arborists now such as the the battery powered chainsaws and pole saws. Not only does this maintain that peaceful serenity that so many people are seeking when they are playing eighteen or photographing perennials, but it improves your image as being respectful of the that atmosphere. In a sense, we are not just preserving trees, we are preserving someones special experience in nature.

Maybe we can save the loud, heavy iron for large projects when the grounds are closed or not as busy such as late fall or winter, at least in the Northeast region of the US where I am located. This issue goes back to the importance of the schedule as a primary, low-impact tool.

As modern arborists we all know the benefits of bluetooth communication. They are endless. This type of communication can also fall into the category of low impact tools. It takes away the need for shouting to ground support, which can typically be heard, irritably, from hundreds of yards away. Over a bluetooth connection we can talk quietly, without ruining the symphony of birdsong and the leaves of the canopy talking in the wind and the landing of a butterfly on a native grass. In this sense, the right tools can add enormous value to how effective we are as arborists in the large landscape, staying quiet and still productive.

Another tool I will touch on is the vehicle we use to move from tree to tree throughout the landscape. The contract climber with an objective of pruning out several pieces of large deadwood throughout all corners of a golf course property may only need a light golf cart, ATV/UTV or small truck to scurry throughout the canopy cutting here and there. As a subcontractor, we may not have to worry about processing material because the clean-up can be done in house by the ground’s own staff/grounds crew. That will be a matter of how the arborist sets up their relationship with the establishment, and really goes back to answering those all-important questions I discussed earlier. At any rate, the large landscape arborist will benefit from a light, job specific vehicle that’s quiet and can be easily tucked out of the way.

Choosing the right tools no doubt makes us more valuable as arborists in the large landscape. The right tool makes the job more efficient, but they can also have a profound effect on others enjoying the property without losing the opportunity of production.

The right response could mean a number of things when it comes to tree care in the large landscape. Instantly, the right response is someone noticing the work and saying, “wow, that looks better!” This speaks to ta more immediate response of instantly improved aesthetics. But this immediate response, if it happens often and consistently enough throughout the landscape, will cascade into the more robust satisfaction of the managers and administration that you are working for. When questions are answered truthfully, we are well on the road to success. Healthy trees, in an ethical sense at least, is an important response for the arborist. This should be obvious. But in such a dynamic setting as Nature, it seems that this is an evasive state to reach, and even unrealistic, that all trees are healthy and safe. But maybe that is the irony of conducting the symphony of a large landscape, to cover so much ground, to cover so much breath and depth, we start with something as singular as one leaf edge, one branch, one person even, and then go from there.

I read Shigo in his introduction to Modern Arboriculture quoting Einstein, “If it appears very complex, it is probably wrong,” (ix). I think that is a perfect sentiment when prioritizing tree care in the large landscape.