ADVERTISING: ADVERTORIAL - Pruning objectives, part two

In last week’s article we established how critical it is that an arborist and client be on the same page of what "done" looks like when bidding tree pruning. There is seldom worse than a callback from a client after pruning a tree and you hear “not what I expected," "not what I wanted" or "I don’t think my tree was pruned correctly.”

Avoiding that conversation takes good communication with the client, solid tree biology, proper pruning language and clear expectations or objectives up front! As an example of proper pruning language, many customers call for “tree trimming.” I get it. Trimming is somewhat synonymous with pruning, but they are different and I avoid the word trimming in all descriptions or advertisement. We do not perform “tree trimming.” Trimming is done with shears and usually performed on shrubs. Pruning is more selective. More surgical. It’s what arborists do.

As arborists, we have both a “Duty of Care” and a “Standard of Care.” Duty of care is a legal or ethical obligation of a person or business to act responsibly. Standard of Care is the level or quality that a reasonable, competent and professional person or business would provide under similar circumstances. In other words, “Duty” denotes responsibility and “Standard” is the “how” you should fulfill that standard. Our Standards are laid out by the ISA (International Society of Arboriculture), ANSI (American National Stands Institute.) The ANSI A300 focuses on the “Performance Standards for tree care practices and the ANSI Z133 for “Safety Requirements” for performing that work. These standards give arborists common language, keep our industry professional and give our customers confidence that we are competent.

Pruning objectives originate from standards of “What” we will perform and “How” we will go about it. Some of the terms, like “lift pruning,” are obvious, but others, such as “retrenchment pruning,” are not.

The term I would like to focus on today is “structure pruning” as most of our pruning objectives will incorporate that term. Structure or structural pruning is targeted pruning to develop and maintain strong tree architecture that mimics a trees natural form. Where applicable, this is to develop a main central leader, well-spaced branches, removal or reduction of poorly attached limbs, reduction of overextended limbs and removal of dead or diseased branches. Often, a customer may say they feel the tree needs to be thinned; however, thinning is a byproduct of structure pruning rather than a descriptor.

Stay tuned as we talk more about tree structure and pruning objectives and as always, for further tree questions, quotes and consultations, give us a call today, 208-762-5800!

For more information on Grace Tree Service, check out our website at gracetreeservice.com.