What is tree care? And what is the difference between a tree surgeon to an arborist? Geert, Coordinator at Green Masters, explains it to you. Anyone who wants to see Geert better heads outside. Cold or hot, as long as it is a green environment, he is always at his best. Geert likes to talk a bit more about one of his favourite subjects: tree care. But what exactly is it? We’ll explain in 4 questions and answers.
Tree care: what is an arborist/tree surgeon?
Geert: First of all, the two designations do indeed exist, but if you ask me, it is arborist. We are going to take care of a tree and we try to avoid pruning at all times. An arborist will try to improve the conditions a tree is in so that the tree can restore itself. For example, we are much more likely to do a stand improvement rather than an intervention.
What drives an arborist?
Geert: A good question, because every story always starts with the ‘why’. Trees are the main foundation of the ecosystem and influence the environment as such. That alone says it all, I think! So the key is to keep them as healthy as possible. For example, you can take an ultrasound (tomography) of a tree to see how healthy it is inside. But you can simulate conditions just as well. For instance, you can use sensors to see how a tree reacts in different places at a certain number of beauforts to then provide the necessary ‘care’ where needed.
“At Green Masters, we always put safety first.”
Is the work in tree care safe?
Geert: We work sometimes 20 to 30 metres high and it often involves branches weighing 500 or 1,000 kilograms. So at Green Masters, we always put safety first. We do this by creating a safe working environment and always attaching ourselves securely to the tree, but it is also a big piece of experience and ‘fingerspitzengefühl’.
What do you mean by fingerspitzengefühl?
Geert: By that, I mean that you don’t always have to apply physics 100%, but mostly understand it. You do know that a willow weighs less than an oak tree, but often it is a matter of basing yourself on your own experience. To know how a branch will fall or what happens when you untie a rope, each time taking into account all sorts of different factors. So that’s the best way to describe tree care. Knowledge, experience and feeling come together to really take care of trees.
