As tree and ornamental care services continue to grow as a specialty for lawn and landscape contractors, running an efficient tree and ornamental program will become more critical. Scheduling, equipment and manpower must all fit together to provide quality plant care, customer satisfaction and, of course, profitability.
INFORMATION GATHERING. Getting tree work done in the most efficient manner requires a few key pieces of information. First, what service is being provided for the customer on the plant material within the property? Are trees being pruned for damage, safety, aesthetics or to improve their structure?
What are the sizes of the trees to be pruned, and how many trees will require work? This will determine the size of the crew sent to the site and the time allotted for each site.
| Structure is Key to Effective Pruning |
“What is new,” explained Gilman, “and what is not truly understood by green industry professionals, is what branches to cut. In most cases, the wrong branches are being removed.” Some of the misconceptions about what branches to remove stem from the reasons that professionals prune. The top two reasons for pruning — creating visibility and appearance — are not necessarily related to the health and vitality of a tree. Pruning for structural health is a distant third, and Gilman believes this is why many trees fail before their time. “Visibility and aesthetics will always be issues in the pruning of trees,” Gilman said, “but structural considerations must be brought more to the forefront and made more equal with the other reasons for pruning.” TRAINING THE TRUNK. The main objective of pruning for structure is making the trunk as substantial and healthy as possible. This is much easier to accomplish when trees are young. To keep the tree’s “focus” on growing a strong trunk, Gilman recommended making drop crotch and thinning cuts to the main branches of the tree to slow their growth. The fastest growing branches will generally often originate from the lower 10 feet on the main trunk. “Because the growth rate slows on the cut branch, the trunk grows faster than the branch and is encouraged to dominate the structure of the tree,” explained Gilman. Cutting, but not removing, these low branches when they are small will reduce the potential for visibility and pedestrian interference issues forcing the pruning of a large branch later in the tree’s life. HEALTHY BRANCHES. Keeping branches healthy and vigorous is also important to tree structure. First and foremost, the practice of “topping” — leveling the top of the tree by removing all the branches at the top center of the tree — is almost never recommended. Problems that can develop include trunk and branch decay, energy reserve depletion, weakening of roots, sprouting and susceptibility to disease and insects. Thinning practices are also critical to branch structure, noted Gilman. The best way to thin the foliage on a branch is to remove some branches from the outermost ends of the tree, rather than the more interior foliage. When branch removal is concentrated inside the canopy, it creates a “lion’s tail” effect in which the foliage is located at the end of the branch. The tree’s reaction to this practice is to elongate to compensate for the loss of energy reserves. The thin, elongated branch is now more susceptible to storm damage, both because the branch will develop less taper and because the concentrated foliage increases weight load on the end of the branch, Gilman explained. Another structural condition to keep in mind is the presence of tightly angled branches from the trunk that have included bark within the crotch. These branches could become a major problem as the tree ages, because the included bark in the crotch has a propensity to weaken and initiate rot over time. Strong storms can cause the branches to split from the trunk, and if the branch was large, the damaged tree that remains might be too hazardous to remain standing. One last way that tree structure and vitality can be compromised is by thinning a tree too drastically. Trees that are improperly thinned, or that have more than 25 percent of their live foliage removed at one time, will produce thin sprouts from the trunk and branches. Sprouting is a critical survival response, but it is also a sign of stress that makes the tree susceptible to disease and insects, Gilman said. — Paul Schrimpf |
The introduction of the ANSI A300-1995 standards for pruning have been important for the green industry in terms of standardizing techniques and terminology, allowing consistent communication within companies and to customers.
“When an arborist is taking notes about the work that needs to be done and is presenting it to the customer, the descriptions of the work and the wording used is more user friendly,” noted Bruce Fraedrich, vice president of research with Bartlett Tree Experts, Stamford, Conn. “The work order defines each individual tree and specifies the amount of the tree to be removed. We used to have unclear terms such as light, medium and coarse removal, which don’t communicate the tree’s needs effectively.”
Once the estimator has made the assessments, the next step is to schedule the work effectively. At Hendricksen — The Care of Trees, headquartered in Chicago, a district coordinator is in charge of plotting out the jobs and matching them to crews, according to Rex Bastian, director of technical services. This will include segmenting out +work that can be performed on cold and rainy days.
The district coordinator will also list the equipment required and any potential hazards or sensitive areas on a site, such as power lines. All this information is provided to the crews each morning so they can prepare for their routes.
CREW DYNAMICS. With large tree projects, companies will usually assign a two or three-person crew to the project. Three-person crews at Tree Trimmers & Associates, Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., are usually comprised of a climber, a ground worker and an apprentice in training. “Occasionally, we will have two workers in a tree, but that is fairly rare,” said Way Hoyt, owner of Tree Trimmers.
| Avoid Jail - Train Your Workers |
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has mandated that anyone doing tree care maintenance or removals must be fully trained in accordance with the American National Standards Institute Z133.1 safety standards. This includes pruning, repairing, maintaining and removing trees as well as cutting brush. Way Hoyt, owner of Tree Trimmers & Associates, Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., noted that owners of businesses have been jailed and fined for criminal negligence for failing to train workers under this standard. |
“On large commercial projects, we’ll have three-person crews — two in the trees and one below collecting limbs,” said Fraedrich.
In Hoyt’s case, the third crew member is backup for a no-show. “Even if someone calls in sick, having a third crew person gives us a chance to save the schedule, even if they are a bit slower,” noted Hoyt.
In all cases involving a tree that must be climbed, a second crew member must be on site in case the climber runs into trouble, he stressed.
Choosing the method of getting up into the tree — ropes or a high-lift — is a function of the location of the tree, the work being performed and the qualifications of the local work force. Hoyt’s crews are almost exclusively rope climbers.
“The trees we work on are rarely accessible for a high-lift,” explained Hoyt. “And the bucket can be difficult to get into areas of the tree you need to access to prune properly.”
Troy Lewis, sales manager with Gamma Tree Care, St. Louis, Mo., said his tree work is split about 60 percent aerial lift to 40 percent climbing. Part of the issue with using buckets for him, however, is the lack of qualified arborists that climb trees.
“Tree climbers are tough to find in this area — we put out advertisements, but we get no response,” said Lewis.
CLEANING UP. As the tree is trimmed, the ground crew stacks tree limbs with the cut side facing the chipper. Unfortunately, the location of most trees makes it difficult to bring the trailer to the tree, and the heat from the bottom of the chipper can damage turf, according to Hoyt. So branches must be dragged to the chipper in most cases. Most companies use a chipper on a trailer that is pulled by a large capacity truck.
Hoyt instructs his crews to avoid firing up the chipper too many times, due to the high cost of chipper repairs. In addition, Fraedrich noted that it’s safer to wait to run a chipper until after workers are out of the trees. “If there’s a problem in the tree, they have no way of communicating with the ground worker,” he explained.
| Standards Clarify Best Pruning Practices |
Copies of the publication can be obtained by contacting the International Society of Arboriculture, P. O. Box GG, Savoy, Ill., 61874-9902. The phone number is 217/355-9411. The cost is $20 for nonmembers of ISA, and $15 for members. There is a $5 charge for shipping and handling for all orders. |
SAVING MAINTENANCE COSTS. On large commercial jobs, Fraedrich said that some arborists will charge as much for the clean-up as they do for the actual pruning. Occasionally, it’s possible to work with the property manager to have an existing in-house crew do the clean-up.
Efficiency can also be gained by recommending winter pruning, he added. “Usually, we keep our top climbers employed all winter long, so winter is an ideal time for commercial accounts to schedule pruning.”
Smaller jobs, such as pruning a small number of trees or shrubs on a residential property, are usually handled by one- and two-person crews and are grouped together.
“We do a lot with small homeowner accounts where you might be working on some small dogwoods or crabapples,” explained Fraedrich. “We’ll schedule in a two-person crew for half a day and put these jobs together.”
The author is Managing Editor of Lawn & Landscape magazine.
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