If the trees in your yard are maybe not looking their best then you might decide it’s time to hire a tree surgeon to come in and help you. During your initial consultation you’ll find that most tree surgeons are eager to help and are brimming with knowledge and experience.

They will do their best to explain simply to you what is happening with your trees and what is the best course of action to rectify any problems. That being said, they are highly skilled professionals working in a field with many technical terms.

Here then is a quick run down of tree service jargon that they may – accidentally – slip into. Study this article before your first consolation and I hope you may find it useful!

Arborist Let's start with an important one! An arborist is actually the correct name for a tree surgeon.

Crown In a tree, this is the branches, twigs and leaves that extend from the trunk.

Formative Pruning This is a proactive measure, where trees and shrubs are trimmed (or pruned) early in their life to encourage healthy growth later. It primarily involves the removal of some competing parts of growth. Well performed well, it will lead to a tree that in later life is healthy and well grown.

Crown Thinning As opposed to the term above Crown Thinning is usually performed on mature trees – in particular, older trees with a lot of growth. Crown thinning essentially is employed to thin or reduce the density of a tree by removing some branches and unneeded growth.

Crown Reduction Where Crown Thinning is an overall reduction in density; Crown Reduction is targeted at a specific part of the tree to address an imbalance in growth. It’s other name, Crown Reshaping, gives a better indication of the purpose of this technique – i.e. to return the tree to a more natural and balanced overall shape.

Crown Lifting This is the removal of the lower branches of the crown, giving the appearance of the crown being lifted into the air. As with the above, primarily employed to address issues with a misshapen crown – in this case, too much lower growth.

Crown Clean Technically, this is somewhat similar to the Crown Thinning technique mentioned above, in as much as this a technique for removing density from the crown. However in this instance is it not simply growth of the tree itself that is removed – although some of the removal may be of tree growth. Here though, in addition to trimming the tree itself the tree surgeon will also remove additional unwanted material that is adding to the density of the tree. This may be foreign objects such as old bird nests or invasive, climbing plants like Poison Ivy.

Trimming The removal of softer growth toward the very outside edges of growth. New leaves, small twigs, softer and smaller branches.

Pruning More selective than trimming, pruning refers to the cutting of branches. This could be one single branch, or it could be an entire tree.

These are just a few of the technical terms and jargon a tree surgeon may accidentally slip into – although these are by far the most common.

Brush up on these terms and it may help during your consultation. That being said however, never hesitate to ask for an explanation if the tree surgeon uses a term or phrase you don’t understand – they will always be happy to explain further! 

There can’t be many things more irritating than an animal attack on your fruit trees. After all the love and hard work you’ve put down on your crop, it’s maddening to come out to the yard one day to discover that all you’ve done is lay on an all you can eat buffet for the local wildlife!

Happily, there are a few tricks up your sleeve that can ward off attacks on your fruit trees.

Kaolin Clay Repellent This repellent is made of naturally occurring ingredients. It is sold in jars from nurseries, hardware suppliers and of course is available online.  Applied directly to fruit before they ripen, this foul tasting clay will put off any animals from eating more than a couple of fruits after they taste it the first time. When your fruit ripens, it can be washed straight off when it’s time to eat the fruit. Be aware, that same intense bitter flavor that drives off animals won’t taste any better to you! Make sure all of the kaolin clay repellent is thoroughly washed away before you consume the fruit.

Chemical Repellent This repellent will be sprayed, either on the area around the trees or on the fruit itself. Whilst usually extremely effective be aware that many repellents are hazardous to the health of humans too. If you are spraying fruit you intend to eat, carefully research the chemical you plan to use to make sure there are no human health complications. Look for repellent sprays that take ingredients from nature. Good ones to look out for contain ingredients or extracts of such things as peppermint, tarragon, garlic or pepper.

Pro Tip: Be sure to use the most natural and tree friendly chemicals if possible, that will avoid slow deterioration and prevent the tree removal all together.

Animal Repellent Or perhaps you’d prefer to go direct to the source, and use an animal based repellent. These types of products will utilize the urine or musk of predators to ward off any other animals with designs on your fruit. These repellents don’t need to be sprayed on your fruit, but rather around the base of the tree. This means that your fruit remains largely untouched, though some of these products cane be rather pungent. This may make them unsuitable for smaller yards.

Animals Well, not an actual animal. I mean if you wish to train up a guard dog to protect your fruit trees then feel free, but here I’m talking about fake animals. Rather like the animal repellent discussed above, this option will use the power of predators to ward off animals from your fruit trees. Plastic hawks, owls, cats, and snakes can be strategically placed in your yard and around your trees to scare away other animals.
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Noise Again this option uses the fear of predators to protect your crops but in a more round about fashion. Animals that eat your fruits are usually by nature quite wary, as they are low on the food chain. Create sufficient noise and they will be too frightened to hang around and steal your fruit. Attach bells or empty soda bottles half full of shells to branches to create noise as they sway in the wind.

One or a combination of the above should be efficient to drive away all but the most determined of thieves and ensure that you have a bumper crop of fruit. Learn more about what tree service is and what tree surgeons do.