On Aug 10, 5:10 am, "D. Staples" wrote:
"Treelady" wrote in message

oups.com...



I find Symplastless to have a good understanding oftrees, theier
biology and appropriate care. To ignore him is to dismiss the
teachings of Alex Shigo- anyone claiming to understand or know about
treeswithout due regard for Shigo's work is one to be taken with a
pinch of salt.

The point you miss is it is Shigo's work, not Keslicks. A wannabe whose
education is a series of 2 and 3 day short courses. I wonder if he is even
a member of any national society of arborists.

Not sure if I missed that point, thank you though. I have no idea of
Symplastless's route of education, nevertheless, if he is passing
along information tried and tested by Shigo and his cronies, well, no
point in dismissing it point in hand. People were not always receptive
to Shigo when he began spreading his findings, in fact, I recently
read an article where the writer claims that a man invited Shigo
outside to pyhsically settle the issue of flush cuts versus branch
(bark) collar cuts.
In the Uk to become a menber of of the Arboricultural Society is not a
matter of simply signing up. Belonging to a prestigious group can,
sometimes, mean little more than one is a member of a prestigious
group. Consulting a tree surgeon on a local council's recommendation
list does not guarantee quality, knowledge or good practice. I have
seen work carried out by such contractors, much of it is appalling.

The vicinity in which I live, and work, has many a treeman (mainly all
men, in fact I have never seen a woman working with trees around here)
who knows nothing about tree biology, little about the mechanics of
trees. I have seen all manner of short term thinking in terms of tree
care; Situations where a tree surgeon carries out pruning work that
lessens the lifespan of trees, unnecessary felling, ruthless pruning
etc. I receive phone calls from men looking for jobs who are barely
able to identify trees yet alone understand the nature of trees. That
Keslick makes an effort speaks well for him, in my book. Many of the
men with which I have worked study day release, or simply got their
tickets through two-three day courses. Self education has its place.
To gain a thorough education in tree work via studying at a national
institute is costly and time consuming- many a person, alas, has to
work in order to live, and their families cannot afford to support
them during three plus years of study. For people to spread the word
about good tree care is important for everyone in the industry, from
self learners to university educated people.
To me the difference between an arboriculturalist and a tree surgeon
is education. People have interfered with trees much longer than
people have officially, for want of a better word, studied trees.
I have seen tree work in the USA and the UK, and both countries have a
long way to go before finding a harmony between people and trees.
People have all manner of ideas about trees, and not all are
interested in trees beyond their intentions, which only feeds into
shoddy workmanship.