by Wayne Ramsey

Created on: April 09, 2007   Last Updated: October 20, 2010

Arborists serve an incredibly important role in the management and care of trees, especially in major cities, where trees can have a major impact on the city itself. But the reality is that the large majority of people don't even have a clue what an Arborist is or a remote clue of what they do on a daily basis. In fact, even the people that use them, don't generally even know what their official title is.

An Arborist is essentially nothing more than a tree doctor. They are responsible for the overall health and management of trees. The majority of an Arborist's work is actually spent trimming and removing trees. They are generally hired by the local city in order to take care of trees that are hanging over powerlines or interfering in other city related activities. However, people that are building homes, adding sections onto their homes, or just trying to clear their property in general need Arborists in order to help them remove the trees from their property.

By hiring an Arborist to remove the tree, you are ensuring that the entire tree is removed, rather than leaving behind too much of the structure, where it could potentially grow back. This of course could cause a great deal of damage and cost a lot of money, if the tree were to grow back under a pool or some other structure. So the Arborist ensures that this doesn't happen by fulling removing the tree and killing off the roots, so that the tree can't come back.

An Arborist also takes the time to treat the illnesses that a tree may have. This is actually a very important part of their job as it takes so long in order to grow a tree, that many people would rather repair their trees than attempt to replace them. The Arborist is knowledgeable of a wide variety of different tree illnesses and are responsible for the proper diagnosis and treatment of these diseases in order to ensure the better health of the tree.

Many times Arborists are called out in order to repair broken or damaged limbs on a tree. This is generally after a major storm where branches are broken. By repairing the limb, the tree won't lose its shape, and with proper care, the tree is capable of healing itself and repairing the break.

Other tasks that an Arborist might be asked to accomplish into tying up a tree so that it grows in a certain manner, such as training a tree to grow along a house or wall. They may also be needed in order to come out and prune several trees around a home and shape them for a much nicer look for the house. This of course is very important for the overall look of the landscaping of a house.

And finally, the Arborists last real job is to help diagnose and treat issues related to insect infestation. This can of course range from standard insects to termites, ants, whatever is infesting the tree itself. They will then either treat this themselves or contract out to an exterminator to have the work done on their behalf. These treatments of course have a profound impact on the overall health of the tree and its longevity.

Overall, the Arborist has a busy job, filled with a variety of tasks that they must master. The training to become an Arborist requires only a high school diploma, but it takes nearly 6,000 hours of training in order to gain Journeyman status in Arborist related tasks. This of course takes quite some time and a lot of successful projects in order to obtain this status. The key is to make sure that you have at least a Journeyman working on important projects otherwise you are most likely getting someone that has little to no experience working with trees.

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