Arborist - defnition?

[jimmyq]

So I looked up the term "arborist" today online, this is the response:
"NOUN: A specialist in the care of woody plants, especially trees. "
I am curious as to the opinions of members here, what does the term arborist mean to you? I ask because at times I feel confused, I know some things about trees, I like to share what I know, I like to learn more, I like to keep trees alive when they should be kept so and I don't like to but do sometimes, condemn trees that might deserve to perish when they are ready rather than when I say. I have run a few chainsaws, I dont do it regularly. I haven't climbed a tree since I was a kid. I am ISA certified but after I took the test I wonder how much that means.
I want to climb and have the gear but I havent found the time to learn. I see so many "tree services" and "arborist" trucks with chippers drive by and wonder if those guys have the same thoughts about trees and arboriculture that I do? The last few crews I have seen doing "tree work" (trimming and/or removal) that called themselves arborists were folks who ran chainsaws and could throw stuff into a chipper but they couldn't identify a rhododendron from a pine.. and they seemed to be proud of that fact. I was left wondering what is an arborist, and so I ask.

 

[Guy Meilleur]

My favorite definition is "an arborist is someone who facilitates the coexistence of people and trees." Heard it from someone in ISA but I don't know who coined it.

"One who makes trees his study, or is versed in the knowledge of trees.", is another dictionary definition.

Neither of these definitions involves chainsaw or climbing, but like Shigo I believe that we learn more about trees by touching them, so climbing is highly recommendable for anyone who wants to really know trees.

As for the guys who can't tell a rhodie from a pine but are experts in sawing and chipping, they are machine operators, not arborists, no matter what the truck says..

 

[jimmyq]

Thanks for stepping through the open door Guy, I look forward to more ...

 

[OutOnaLimb]

My grandmother was the first arborist that I have ever met. As a 6 year old kid she told me how the lady bugs ate the aphids in the willow trees and how the elm trees had a disease that spread from one tree to the next killing the trees because of a fungus spread from the beetles, (Dutch elm disease) She taught me that if you just cut off a branch, a bunch of suckers would sprout out and try to take the place of the branch that was removed. I learned so much from my Grandma when I was just a kid and never realized it untill years later. Looking back now I realize that being an arborist envolves alot more than Stihl and Husky chain saws, Vermeer chippers, 16 strand climb lines, Cambistat applications, and winning the next ITCC. My grandma, in my mind is the ultimate arborist. To be an arborist, in my mind, all you need is a love of trees and a willingness to try and make a difference. By the way my Grandma is now 87 years old and I really need to make time to go back home and trim up the crab apple tree and willow trees that I used to climb and swing around in with a rope when I was just a kid. If nothing else I owe her and the trees that much for what they have given me.

Kenn

 

[jimmyq]

wow Kenn, that is the most heartfelt definition I have heard to date, thanks.

Paul

 

[OutOnaLimb]

We got her one, but she only uses it to look up geneology stuff on the church website. LOL\:angel:

 

[MasterBlaster]

Most grandparents I know aren't too keen on the internet.

 

[John Paul Sanborn]

Originally posted by OutOnaLimb
We got her one, but she only uses it to look up geneology stuff on the church website. LOL\:angel:

My 75 y/o Dad does the same thing. He's exhausted the LDS resources, got kicked off of GenWeb for not wanting to give money and then I introduced him to the ListServe system. Now he can ask other people in the searching the same name to go to libraries and look things up in escoteric little books.

Oh he also researches medical stuff too....

 

[jamie]

climbing

the first tree i climbed was a lime and god at the top and not feeling 200% confident my senses were extra keen and i quickly learnt what lime buds and bark look like, the differences in bark colour and texture....

limes now stand out like a sore thumb

to me an arborist is someone who cares about trees

jamie

 

[OutOnaLimb]

I think my Gram has pretty much burned up the LDS geneology site to, When I was in North Carolina I went to the public library in Ashville and looked up a bunch of old census records from before the Civil War that had the names of some of our ancestors from Scotland and made copies and sent it to her. She was tickled pink.

Kenn

 

[Frans]

Arborist Creed

Here is our creed, plus many other arborists as well
Frans

 

[Guy Meilleur]

Frans, that's a powerful atatement. Made by Don Blair's father? Grandfather? I'm going to revise it for posting on my website.

 

[Frans]

Don Blair's Dad

Might want to call Don Blair and ask him for permission...

 

[Guy Meilleur]

Re: Don Blair's Dad

Originally posted by Frans
Might want to call Don Blair and ask him for permission...

OK, I did, and will keep Millard's name on there for full attribution of course.

 

[TheSurgeon]

Personally, I would'nt call anyone an arborist unless they had experience in both fields, biology/identification/etc., and climbing/rigging/felling/etc. But that's my own opinion.....

 

[MasterBlaster]

I agree!

I call myself a tree climber. I have no formal education in arborculture, so I do not call myself an arborist.
Someday, maybe...

 

[rbtree]

I believe the term arborist does not imply training as in books or classroom. Therefore, anyone who works on or with trees could be called an arborist.

 

[Matt Follett]

Wow, Good thread.

Kenn, You come from a soild background! I'm sure that many of us have at some time heralded that "Arboricultural mentor" of ours, people that make profound impressions on us and our views towards our lives and professions.

I have often times wrestled with this question, not only in trying to explain it to people, both clients and non-clients, but also with myself.

For a while I used the term (primarily in my head) 'horticultural arborist'. For me that meant that I was trying to combine my holistic approach to horticultural with my tree climbing skills, as well as an excuse for why there was a pair of secaturs in my climbing bag!

My view has changed somewhat as I use the secaturs less, and the pen and keyboard more. I still climb (lots) and love to work and rig big things when necessary, pruning is becoming more risk reduction and structural then anything.

Whether you spent years in school, or years in the tree may not matter so much as your outlook on your profession. Personally as long as we are continuously open to change, learning and adaptation we can only be improving ourselves and therefore our profession. Those of us who spend hours upon hours climbing and prunning are just as much an arborist as those who spend hours drilling into park trees with a resitigraph. Jim Ingram talked this year at our local chapter conference about needing to imploy climbers more in the the process of Risk Evaulation, not only for due dilgance in checking the whole tree, but also for their 'gut feeling' when up there because of that sense a climber has when things are weak. ( I think that's called self presevation " Man get me out of here!")
Anyway I digress,
ANSI's definition is so simple it's scary, "An individual engaged in the profession of arboriculture."
to understand that simple statment we must look at their definition of arboriculture... " The art, science, technology and business of utility, commercial, and municipal tree care."
Which is pretty vague, to say the least.

Webster doesn't even have it listed, and I had to add it to my spell check.

With such loose terms 'authoritative' terms we can only say what it means to ourselves and define ourselves within that context.
Adding terms like 'Ulility Arborist' gives more defintion of specific roles within the field, but does little to define the field itself.

The term urban forestry and urban forester are being seen more and more in common place, is an arborist an urban forester? is an urban forester an arborist?

Forestry and Arboriculture used to be seperated by the fact that Forestry was the study of a group of trees living in a system, while Arboriculture routinely focused on the single tree in an urban setting... we are now coming to realize that, the single tree is not alone, there is a system around it which must be balanced just like the forest, it may or may not include other trees but it certainly includes other organisms, so tell me again how the professions are different, he he...

So I don't think I've done anything to clear this issue up... but I'll finish by saying that I am an arborist, I love trees, their grace, magnitude, structural and biological wonder. I have a very slight understanding as to their impact on our lives in an urban setting and how they effect our society. I love to climb them, big ones small ones. I love to work to preserve them where I can, whether it be with my pen, or with my chainsaw. And in actuality, I enjoy rigging, and therefore, I do enjoy the often unfortunate task of taking them down. I hate to end on that note, but I guess I must.

I guess we must walk a line between tree advocate, and tree wrecker, our skills and equipment allows us to do many things, and like a vet sometimes we must use our skills in a way which may not be thought of pleasantly by society, (man this is ending sour)

Anyway yeah

arborist, person who works with trees.

 

[MasterBlaster]

So I'm an arborist!

Cool.

 

[Guy Meilleur]

Most of my incoming phone calls, from the YP ad under Arborists, say something like "I need an arborist, not just a tree cutter." In their mind, an arborist works with the tree's growth, while a tree service cuts the tree out of the way.

Yes you need to read if you want to understand trees beyond a certain level, but Outonalimb's grandmother knows more about trees than a lot of forestry graduates.

And you practice arboriculture. (with an "i")
[/B]

Ifyou pronounce the "i", you're pronouncing it wrong imo. Arboriculture is not boring or icky, and 4 syllables is enough. Hey let's post a poll!