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
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/356975
8 Green Media / August 2014 www.greenmediaonline.com great leaps forward in recent memory. Considering how uni- versal smartphones and tablet computers seem today, it wasn't that long ago when all your cell phone could do was make phone calls. Today, arborists are using their phones for just about every part of their business. We are using phones and tablets for collecting geographic information system data for inventories that used to required specialized, often expensive and cumbersome, equipment. We also use our phones for di- agnosing health issues, writing up bid estimates for the client, and checking the rates for a treatment application. Mobile devices are chocked full of possibilities with millions of apps available that can help with a specialized task such as tree iden- tifi cation or learning to tie a new knot. Chemical technology Modern tree health care is built around the diagnosis of issues and the prescription of their treatments. To many, the idea of using any type of chemical treatment for tree health rings of the "spray and pray" era when chemicals were uti- lized in an irresponsible manner. The past decade has seen signifi cant advances in the treatments used with new prod- ucts for some of the most challenging pest issues arborists face. Up until 15 years ago, the treatments available for tree health care were products developed for other industries such as agriculture and golf. Rates for tree care were often added to the label with no scientifi c backing. Today, advances in chemical technologies are formulations developed spe- cifi cally for arboriculture, focusing on the pest they are tar- geting, the method by which they will be applied, and the safety of the person making the application. For example, not more than fi ve years ago, scale insects and caterpillar pests were only acceptably controlled by spray applications, but the operational and public relation challenges of spray treat- ments saw more and more arborists moving away from them altogether. New research led to systemic treatments becom- ing available, allowing a technician to apply a treatment to the base of the tree and control damaging insects a hundred feet up in the canopy. These technological advancements im- proved the tree's health, made the tree care company's job easier and more profi table, and offered the tree's owner the same beautiful, healthy tree they desired. The past fi ve years have also seen an increased demand for tree injection applications, and new chemistries are being developed specifi cally for this purpose. Tree health problems, from oak wilt and Dutch elm disease to invasive pests such as Asian longhorned beetle and emerald ash borer, have put tree injection at the forefront of the tree health care business. Market demands are also forcing an increased understanding in the science of tree injection to improve the uptake time of treatments, improve the distribution within the tree, and increase the longevity of treatments. New formulations are in- tentionally designed to move quickly into trees and minimize hazards to the applicator. Tree injection is an exciting frontier of arboriculture right now, with improvements in safety and operations that are opening up new possibilities for tree health care companies. TREE CARE TREE CARE New application technology makes the job easier. Removable spray systems can add fl exibility.