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PLANT HEALTH CAREANT HEAL Going A The many aspects of “green” tree care practices rborists are increasingly asked to provide “greener” alternatives for tree health care, but what does that mean, and what options are available for professionals? Does “going green” simply mean we have to swap out synthetic chemical treatment “A” for organic chemical treatment “A?” Can green arboriculture be part of the toolbox without sacrificing effi- cacy and economics? As you will see, green tree care can be many different things, including just slight changes to practices you may already be doing. Agricultural IPM versus urban IPM Agricultural producers have nearly all gone toward some form of Integrated Pest Management (IPM) practice. IPM uses a combination of monitoring, cultural practices, prevention and control to manage the pest populations of their crops. One of the overarching themes of IPM is setting action thresholds, usually based on the economics of a plan implementation. Prior to any pest control measure being applied,IPM managers determine the injury Chart provided by Rainbow Treecare Scientific Advancements 22 Arbor Age / May/June 2011 By Br andon Gallagher Watson Green? threshold — the point at which a pest population will become enough of a threat to the crop where it makes more sense to con- trol the pest than allow it continue to do damage.They then set action thresholds lower than this so a management intervention can occur before the damage is economically significant. For deadly, invasive issues such as Dutch elm disease or emerald ash borer, an arborist can employ a similar model for determining the necessity of a management action. It is often less expensive to treat a tree and have it live than allow the tree to die and cut it down. The arborist’s job can be a little more challenging when the injury thresholds are determined by aesthetics rather than econom- ics. Japanese beetles can seriously impact a tree’s health if popula- tions are significant; however, the vast majority of leaf beetle infes- tations are more unsightly than deadly. In these cases, the client’s individual tolerance for damage will set when a management action should intervene. If the client has a very low threshold for damage and wants every leaf perfect, the tree health professional may employ a preventive treatment to ensure as little damage as possible. If the client has a higher tolerance for damage, the professional may suggest monitoring the population and not implementing a control strategy until the problem becomes critical enough that it is no longer an appearance issue, but a signifi- cant health issue. Organic versus natural versus green? When it’s decided that a management action should be taken, there are more options available than ever, but there is also more confusion. Arborists seeking “green alternative” treatment options find claims such as “organic,” “natural,” and the afore- mentioned, and incredibly ambiguous,“green alternative.” But what do these titles mean? Of these, “organic” is the most strictly defined. To label a product as “organic,” it must be non-synthetic and pass independent www.arborage.com