October 24, 2014

Tree Care After Storms:   Part II of III

Selecting Professionals for the Tree Servicetree-service-maintenance

  1. Arborists and Horticulturalists are people who have made a career out of tree and plant care. While they are primarily involved in the planting, pruning and caring, some also offer other services such as insect and disease care, hazardous identification, tree and plant inventory, appraisals, fertilization and tree and plant management planning. When hiring someone to work for you, be sure you use a certified, experienced professional.
  2. Do not accept take-it-now deals. The person offering these deals may pressure you into doing something you will regret later.
  3. Good professionals never recommend topping. They will recommend removal and replacement of the tree.
  4. Get multiple estimates for your job, but remember the best professional for you may not give the lowest bid.

THE LOWEST BIDDER

“It’s unwise to pay too much, but it’s worse to pay too little. When you pay too much, you lose a little money – that’s all. When you pay too little, you sometimes lose everything, because the thing you bought was incapable of doing the thing it was bought to do. The common law of business balance prohibits paying a little and getting a lot – it can’t be done. If you deal with the lowest bidder, it is well to add something for the risk you run, and if you do that you will have enough to pay for something better.”

John Ruskin (8 February 1819 – 20 January 1900) was the leading English art critic of the Victorian Era, art patron, draughtsman, a prominent social thinker and philanthropist. He wrote on subjects ranging from geology to architecture, myth to ornithology, literature to education, and botany to political economy.

Warning: Use caution before hiring people who knock on you door. Good professionals are generally too busy to generate business this way. Door knockers are especially common after a storm and are notorious for recommending tree topping, an unhealthy tree-trimming practice.