For more than 30 years, Arbor Age magazine has been covering new and innovative products, services, technology and research vital to tree care companies, municipal arborists and utility right-of-way maintenance companies
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PLANT HEALTH CARE By Brandon M. Gallagher Watson All photos provided by Rainbow Treecare Scientific Advancements When the client understands the cost of losing the tree, they see the value of tree health care. 10 Arbor Age / November/December 2013 or years,there was a divide in our tree care company whether we were a science organization or a sales organization.The science camp asserted we were benevolent tree defenders, here to advance the field of arboriculture and educate the world about trees.The sales camp said we were first and foremost a business,and if we didn't focus on profits,the rest of it didn't matter.We finally put that debate to bed by realizing we were both,that we had to be both, in fact.No tree health sale ever saved a tree without a scientifically backed protocol,just as no science-based protocol ever saved a tree without a sale. The science of tree health cannot survive without the business of tree health, and vice versa. We spend most of our time in this space each issue talking about the science of tree health. From diseases to insect pests to issues related to the planting site, the bulk of the talk here is how to diagnose and take action for the longevity of our urban trees. However, an important step is missing between diagnosis and treatment here — getting the tree's owner to agree to your plan and, perhaps even more important, getting them to agree to pay for it. The most common roadblock we hear from arborists on the business of tree health care is the important part — getting someone to pay for it.Tree owners are often stuck with sticker shock when an arborist proposes a management plan.Whether the estimate is for a $100 or $1,000 service, tree health care can seem expensive to the tree's owner.This sticker shock often results in the owner not taking action, worsening the condition for the tree or leaving them unprotected from whatever ailment you were trying to prevent.The adage is true that "price is clear, value is not," so how do we get tree owners to see the value of the services we offer? One way to contextualize the value of tree health care services is start with showing the value of the tree.There are a few facts you can arm yourself with before even showing up to the job site; or, if you don't have all the facts beforehand, you can look them up on your phone or tablet when you arrive. If you know the species of tree, its size, and the ZIP code in which it resides, you can use the handy National Tree Benefit Calculator (NTBC), which is available online at www.treebenefits.com/calculator. This awesome (and free) tool developed by Casey Trees and the Davey Tree Expert Company uses i-Tree's Street data to show the economic value a street tree provides.You enter info on the tree's type, size and location, and it calculates an annual benefit in dollars. It also breaks that value down into categories such as stormwater, property value, energy savings, air quality, and CO2. www.arborage.com