About Trees Consulting offers valuable insight and experience to guide you through all stages of tree and landscape care, from planning and planting to maintaining and preserving the plants and trees on your property.
- Diagnosis of tree & landscape problems
- Insect & disease identification & management
- Neighbor tree dispute resolution
- Litigation support
- Tree risk assessment & surveys
- Tree, landscape & nursery appraisals
- Tree protection for constructions projects
- Species selection & landscape plan review
- Contract preparation & supervision
Diagnosis of tree and landscape problems
Accurate diagnosis is critical to successfully resolve any problem. Often, the problem is not an insect or disease, but may be related to the placement, planting or care of the tree in question. About Trees diagnoses the problem and provides you with management options. For do-it-yourselfers, we describe what you can do to fix the problem. If the treatment requires a professional, we provide you with referrals for qualified service providers and written specifications so you are sure to get bids that you can compare “apples to apples.”
Insect & disease identification and management
The time of year and symptoms presented by the pest can make insect and disease problems difficult to identify. Even after identifying the problem, it may not be the right time to apply treatment. We diagnose the problem and describe how and when it can be treated. We’ll provide you with management options, including how to do it yourself, treatment specifications and, if desired, a treatment proposal.
Neighbor tree dispute resolution
Neighbors don’t always see a tree in the same light. What may be your pride and joy can be your neighbor’s worst nightmare. Falling leaves, blocked views, clogged gutters or a tree that someone feels is unsafe are all common issues relating to trees and neighbors. At About Trees, we like to solve neighbor tree disputes by making all parties aware of all of the management options available. Sometimes the issue can be solved easily after everyone has all the facts. Pruning, growth regulation and fruit suppression are just some of the techniques used to make the “offending” tree less offensive. Regardless of who owns the tree, we can usually help both parties come to an effective resolution to the problem.
Litigation support
About Trees supports attorneys and their clients with legal cases involving trees. We have handled a wide variety of cases, including injury and death caused by falling trees or limbs, neighbor dispute, criminal trespass, illegal pruning or removal, nursery theft, bankruptcy, and vandalism. About Trees arborist Eric Vorodi has qualified and testified as an expert witness in federal court and has written reports and appeared in small claims court to support client cases. Contact us early in your case to get information that will assist you with your preparation.
Tree risk assessment & surveys
College campuses, municipalities, business campuses and homeowners are some of the clients that request tree risk assessment surveys from About Trees Consulting. Understanding tree risk AND your options to manage it help you make an informed decision. It may not be necessary to remove the tree. Pruning, cabling, bracing and growth regulator application are just a few of the techniques that today’s arborists use to mitigate risk.
Tree, landscape & nursery appraisals
About Trees provides more tree appraisals than any other area company and has the experience to guide you through the process. About Trees provides appraisals for cases ranging from automobile collisions and retail theft to bankruptcy. Keep in mind that an appraisal is different from a replacement estimate. Whether you are making a claim yourself or disputing the claim of another, it’s important to know the right questions to ask regarding tree appraisal. Above all else, appraisals need to be defendable in court should the case go that far. About Trees appraisals are honest, accurate and can be defended in court.
Tree protection for construction projects
Whether you are putting a new building on campus or putting an addition on your house, About Trees can help you decide which landscape trees can be preserved. We will help you determine IF a tree can be retained and if so, how to best protect it. On the other hand, if the tree will be severely damaged by construction, we can advise you of this up front—before construction starts—so removal is less expensive and your construction can proceed on schedule.
Species selection & landscape plan review
About Trees will help you select tree species that will thrive in your particular environment. We take everything into account, including geographic location, soil type, insect and disease tolerance, maintenance requirements, size and aesthetic qualities to choose a species that’s right for you situation.
Contract preparation & supervision
Need work done on your trees but you don’t know who to choose to do the work, what needs to be done or how much it should cost? About Trees will evaluate your trees, write pruning specifications and put you in touch with our network of Certified Arborists to bid on your project. The net result: you only get the work done that you need, and are assured that it is performed by a qualified service provider at the best price.
Tree & plant inventories
Not sure what trees you have on your property or what condition they’re in? About Trees will inventory your trees, identify species and evaluate their condition. Based on this inventory, we will develop a management plan that includes soil testing and fertilization, pruning, support systems, insect and disease management, and more.
Sprayless pest management
About 90% of landscape pests can be controlled without spraying large quantities of pesticides around your yard. How? About Trees uses the most modern and advanced methods available to protect your trees while reducing your family’s exposure to pesticides. Rather than spraying large quantities of pesticides into the air to cover your trees, we use very small quantities of specially formulated pesticides that are injected either directly into the tree or into the ground around the base of the tree. These systemic pesticides are active at very low doses but provide superior and longer-lasting control than their sprayed counterparts. And because they are injected directly into the tree or ground, there is NO exposure to you, your family or your pets. Call About Trees to see if your pest problems can be controlled with Sprayless Pest Management.
Plant health care programs
Until recent decades, landscape pest management involved spraying large quantities of pesticides with big spray rigs. These “blanket sprays” were used to kill any and all insects in the landscape. Unfortunately, some companies still use this approach. By the 1980’s, targeted pest management had become the norm, whereby certain pests were targeted, but large-scale spraying was still widely used. In the 1990’s, Integrated Pest Management and Plant Health Care (IPM & PHC) were being used by more progressive companies to target pests and reduce pesticide applications. Today, skilled arborists have the ability to scout for and identify key pests, determine if the pest population is large enough to require treatment, and only then make a targeted application to the pest. This is the key of a good Plant Health Care program. About Trees can inventory the trees and plants on your property, identify key pests, and treat only when absolutely necessary. In addition to pest management, our Plant Health Care programs provide soil testing and prescriptive fertilizer application on an annual basis. The end result is that your landscape receives only what it needs - and no more - in terms of fertilizer and pesticides. You can feel good about the health of your landscape investment as well as being comfortable with your family and pets using your yard.
Establishment pruning
Many property owners only think about pruning after a tree has grown very large. In truth, it is best to prune early. This "establishment pruning" is performed several times during the first five years after a tree is planted. During this period, pruning establishes the correct form and structure of the tree, assuring it develops properly and does not develop structural weaknesses commonly found in older trees. This type of pruning is particularly important for "oppositely branched" species such as maples, ashes and horsechestnuts. In addition to creating mechanically sound tree structure and branching, proper pruning of young trees helps them grow faster, last longer and cost much less to prune in the future.
Fine pruning of ornamental trees
About Trees specializes in pruning small ornamental trees like Japanese Maple, Paperbark Maple, Japanese Snowbell, Stewartia, dwarf conifers, etc. These trees are most attractive when pruned to accentuate their specific characteristics which might include interesting branch structure, flowers, fruit or bark. Perhaps you have a Japanese garden with plants chosen specifically to look a certain way. These plants should not be simply sheared, thinned or rounded over. They have very specific pruning requirements. About Trees offers expertise in this combination of science and art, making ornamental or unusual trees look the way they are intended. If you have large landscape trees that require pruning, About Trees can provide pruning specifications and referrals to qualified local tree services for competitive bidding or we can arrange for pruning by one of the certified arborists in our network.
Growth regulation
Sometimes a tree ends up being too large for the space available. Or perhaps the tree is repeatedly growing over your rooftop, requiring frequent, expensive pruning to keep it off of the shingles. Topping is not the answer. Rounding over is not the answer. Growth regulation probably is. A tree's growth can be reduced by applying a small amount of a very specialized product called a growth regulator. Applying a growth regulator once every three years can reduce stem elongation by 40-70% per year, reducing pruning costs and extending the useful life of the tree. In addition to reducing stem elongation, growth regulators increase fine root density—a benefit that enables the tree to better absorb soil nutrients and withstand drought and nutrient stress. Growth regulators have been used successfully for years in the utility and turf industries to keep trees out of power lines and reduce mowing frequency on golf courses and highway medians. They have a proven track record of safe, effective AND beneficial use on landscape trees. Ask if a growth regulator is appropriate for your situation.
Soil testing and prescriptive fertilization
Soil nutrient and pH issues are more common than you might think. Living in a limestone valley is great for field corn and turfgrass, but can create problems for landscape trees and shrubs requiring acidic soils to thrive. About Trees uses Penn State University Analytical Lab soil test kits to assess the pH and nutrient status of your soil. This inexpensive test is the first step in diagnosing any tree issue. We will have copies of the soil test report sent to you as well as us, so that we can both see and discuss the results. Based on these results, we will help you select the proper materials so you can fertilize yourself, or we can apply prescriptive fertilization for you.
Micronutrient management
When some species of trees are planted in our area, they are prone to very specific nutritional problems that simply can't be remedied by application of soil fertilizers alone. When this is the case, a specific micronutrient introduced directly into the tree's vascular system may quickly eliminate the deficiency and restore tree function. About Trees diagnoses micronutrient deficiencies and can apply treatments to alleviate the symptoms when necessary. If you notice off-color leaves on your trees, particularly yellow green leaves with dark green veins, call for a diagnosis. Micronutrient deficiencies are especially common in this area for pin oak, red maple, sweetgum and several other tree species.
Garden club lectures
Would your garden club like to host a presentation about trees? Eric Vorodi is an experienced and energetic public speaker who makes a variety of presentations related to trees, landscaping, insects, diseases and other topics. The following is a partial list of presentations you may choose for your group.
- Trees for Central Pennsylvania Landscapes
- Planting Trees So They Survive and Thrive
- Common Landscape Insects and Diseases
- Tree Preservation during Design, Planning and Construction
