Who Are Tree Surgeons
A tree surgeon is, first and foremost, a person trained to tend to trees that have become weakened or diseased. That in a nutshell is the basic premise of a tree surgeon however like so many things the whole truth here is far more than this simple sentence!
A tree surgeon is, for instance, well trained in spotting the symptoms of disease. They will then use this to not only diagnose a disease, but also suggest a viable course of treatment. This will extend across all diseases, fungus and pests such as animals and insects that can attack trees. A good tree surgeon will know how to spot the signs of all of these, and know how to treat them. They will either work by themselves in helping people or be a part of a tree service company, such as ourselves.
A tree surgeon can also be called in to deal with emergency situations. For example, after a major storm has hit an area, tree surgeons will often be in the first wave of responders in the aftermath. They will assist with clearing downed trees so roads and power lines can be repaired. Tree surgeons will also be called in to make damaged trees safe – if large branches have been knocked loose by high winds for example but are still attached to the tree itself.
Tree surgeons are also trained to perform high risk “surgery” on trees. This reason, possibly above all others, is why you should consider hiring a tree surgeon. The specialist training tree surgeons receive, coupled with their day to day experience allow them to perform work that should not be undertaken by the average person.
For example, they are particularly adept at so called aerial work, where access is required to higher portions of tree. Tree surgeons, in cases like this, will be able to utilize specialist harness training.
Aerial work is in fact such an important part of the tree surgeon’s skill set; they will often utilize specialist tools such as Karabiners and feet spikes.
Karabiners are devices used by the tree surgeon to help in rope control. They are essentially metal loops with one opening side, referred to as a gate. These tools will be utilized by a tree surgeon when they are working from a rope harness.
Spikes, as the name might imply, are sharpened metal instruments that clip over the outside of normal footwear like boots. They can be made of a range of hardwearing material and are used by the tree surgeon to “dig in” to the tree trunk. They can however cause severe damage to a tree, and therefore the surgeon must carefully monitor their use. Ideally, they will only be employed on sections of tree that are not being kept intact or alive after the tree work is completed.
Lets also not underplay the most important tool in the tree surgeons arsenal – the chainsaw. Again, whilst the normal person may have some level of experience in using a chainsaw, a tree surgeon will bring an extra level of specialist training.
A tree surgeon then is an exceptionally highly skilled professional. They work in often dangerous and adverse conditions, using specialized and highly dangerous equipment. If you are considering hiring one to care for your trees, then know that you will be hiring an exceptionally well trained professional.