Taking your car to a reputable mechanic for periodic maintenance is probably the best insurance to a happy life of trouble-free motation…
You can’t take your tree anywhere, unless it’s in a pot. Any reputable tree care outfit should however, be willing to check out the situation under your tree’s hood so to speak, without you incurring an invoice for said inspection.
A truly dedicated arborist will be more than happy to look at your tree mainly because he or she will learn something during the visit. You would think after 4 decades of tree tune-ups there wouldn’t be anything new to see… Nothing could be further from the truth!
Any arborist worth their salt will learn something new every day of their career if they have their eyes open… Sometimes I get a fast pitch curveball thrown at me and I may need to resort to a different approach to hit it out of the park, or at least make it to first.
Some trees, especially non-native varieties, have problems associated with cultural conditions not favorable to that particular plant, and can stump an “expert” once in a while, but there is ALWAYS a reason…
Some trees just don’t like this or that, whether this or that is the soil temp, soil composition, soil moisture, soil PH, soil drainage, soil compaction, lack of soil volume, raising or lowering of soil grade, too much sun exposure, not enough sun exposure, the list goes on…
An arborist in a foreign environment may be stumped by certain maladies only because he or she has no idea of the specific requirements of the tree they may be in front of, but alas, they will learn something, we hope.
My mottos have always been:
1. If you want me to tell you what you want to hear, I charge $1000.00 per hour.
2. The truth is ALWAYS free.
And with that, enjoy the beautiful spring!
Plant high and often…
