Choosing an Arborist
Do you need to hire someone to handle your tree work? If so who should you hire? How do you find them?
These are good questions, and the answers are specific to your situation. Here are some general suggestions to keep in mind as you make a decision about your trees.
Do you need to hire someone?
If you want it done well, and without hassle the short answer is “yes”. A good arborist gets the job done efficiently and with professional care. However, if you’re very hands on, and the tree to be trimmed or removed does not pose a hazard, you might consider learning how to do the work yourself. If you’re a gardener, or have an interest in plants, this may be a chance to extend your skills. So why not learn to maintain the smaller trees in your landscape? There are lots of books and web pages with information on trimming/pruning. The key word is “Learn”, attempting any serious tree work without adequate knowledge can be dangerous for both you and your surroundings. If in doubt, get help! If the work you want to do can’t be done with tools from the ground it is generally best to hire a professional.
Who should you hire?
There is a great range of arborists out there. Depending on your area you may have several choices, and most have overlapping expertise. For removals you probably have the most options. Safety and quality of cleanup are the main things to look for here. Trimming is a bit more specialized since it also requires an eye for aesthetics and knowledge of how trees grow. The most difficult to find is tree health care… as in disease management and pest control. To do this properly requires a knowledge of pests and diseases as well as tree biology. Miss diagnosis of tree diseases can lead to a lot of wasted time and money, which is critical if it is an issue that can only be treated successfully if the right approach is taken early on. Your looking for someone who is Competent, Professional, and Insured.
How to find the right arborist?
With the vastness of the internet it can be easy to get lost in options and hard to tell what the real company is actually going to be like. The best is still word of mouth. If you see tree work similar to what you need done, that has been done well, find out who did it. Neighbors and friends can tell you what they think like about who they’ve hired. If that doesn’t turn up a suitable fit, on-line searching and reading reviews should find you someone. If you call a friendly arborist, even if they don’t handle the work you need, they often know who to refer you to. Here in Ontario Arborists aren’t usually required to have certification. Though there are many third party certification agencies, there are also many long serving companies that do quality work without titles from them. However, if you can’t find any real life background on a companies’ competency Something like ISA or Skilled Trades Ontario certification at least indicates that someone in that company has taken formal testing about tree knowledge, and met experience requirements.
To sum it up, look around, and know what your looking for before you hire. If in doubt, ask an arborist!
