TCI Magazine Audio Edition

BY ROBERT J. LAVERNE, PH.D.; ALEX JULIUS, BCMA; AND TIM BUSHNELL, CTSP Climbing arborists and tree workers rely on the structural strength and stability of a tree’s branches, trunk and roots to support their weight and the forces associated with rigging operations.  Remember to get your free subscription to TCI Magazine by clicking here .

BY LINDSEY PURCELL It’s tough out there for trees, especially when they are trying to survive in the “un-natural” urban forests where we live. Trees tend to grow well on more natural, undisturbed sites like arboreal areas, but there is nothing natural about the built environment. Trees planted in suburban and urban areas require supplementary care and maintenance to keep them thriving and not just...

BY ZACH SHIER, BCMA Soil and foliar sampling are not exactly a new science, nor are they new ideas in the world of arboriculture. However, it is my opinion that they are still underutilized or underemphasized in the field. As practicing arborists, we must use all the tools at our disposal to not only provide good service to our customers, but also to do our best to improve tree health.  Remember t...

BY SCOTT CARLSON, BCMA Life is what happens when you are busy making other plans. We have all heard it. I believe it.  I am an aging arborist in Iowa. Like a lot of us seasoned “tree guys,” I have followed a familiar path. As I got older and less agile in the trees, I focused on selling. Remember to get your free subscription to TCI Magazine by clicking here .

BY JEREMIAH SANDLER, BCMA I’ve had a number of consultations in Pleasant Ridge, a small community with many mature oak and early veteran trees, after a hollow tree failed onto someone’s house (nobody was injured). Around the same time, another oak nearby had a significant failure that totaled a neighboring garage. Remember to get your free subscription to TCI Magazine by clicking here .

BY EDWARD MORROW Financial jargon coupled with astronomical numbers. All splattered across a piece of paper or computer screen. What is this?! Your anxiety surges out of control. It’s just an income statement – profit and loss statement, or P&L for short. If we could just, maybe, alter this financial statement a tad. Just to condense it, to make it just a little more understandable. Image is e...

BY BILL OWEN, CTSP Arborists are practicality driven; we recognize what works and then incorporate best practices into our processes. With our industry’s spirit of innovation, we have seen major improvements year over year as our techniques and technologies evolve. As rapidly as we have seen innovation in field operations, we also have enhanced our ability to run our businesses. As such, we recogn...

BY BRIAN LEDONNE In the tree-service industry, particularly for TCIA members, the challenges of managing a successful business extend beyond physical labor and service quality. The digital landscape can feel overwhelming, with countless tools and platforms that demand your time and attention. In this article, we’ll look at a five-step approach, “The Foundation,” tailored specifically for tree care...

BY MICHAEL ROCHE “Is a peer-to-peer group right for you?” That’s a question many business owners might want to consider, because, after gaining enough information on the topic, many owners will see that having regularly scheduled meetings with fellow business owners can be one of the most valuable things you can do for the growth, safety, profitability and general enjoyment of your business. Remem...

BY RICK HOWLAND For this article, we talked with end-users who pretty much agree that successful implementation of customer relationship management (CRM) software comes after many steps accompanied by diligence, time and sometimes frustration. But – and it’s a very large but – all say the journey is well worth it. Remember to get your free subscription to TCI Magazine by clicking here .

BY ANDY FELIX Do you know – really know – that your business is making money? If you know it for a fact and have no doubt your business is making money, and are comfortable with the percentage of profit your company achieves, there is no reason to read this article. However, if you “think” you’re making money or are not quite sure if you are, please read on.  Remember to get your free subscription...

BY EDWARD MORROW You’ve either read about it or experienced it firsthand. If you find yourself in a room full of elite climbers – they may be from different places and use different climbing hitches and gear – one thing is common: They usually light up when the subject swings over to SRS climbing. Stationary-rope systems increase ascension speed and facilitate more ergonomic work positioning. But...

BY BRANDON JOHNSON Trees are a sign of strength, longevity and life. Species live for hundreds, even thousands, of years. They withstand changing climates, harsh storms and invasive pests. In a world where these magnificent life forms survive so much, human beings have often been their biggest adversary. Carr’s Tree Service has spent 50 years working to serve as the mending hand between the two sp...

BY PATRICIA CHAUDOIN When Jason James, CTSP, ISA Certified Arborist and owner of Tree Wise Men LLC – a TCIA member company since 2022 – started noticing the ash tree epidemic spreading across southern Wisconsin, he saw a demand for tree work he knew he could fill.  Remember to get your free subscription to TCI Magazine by clicking here .

BY THOMAS BOFINGER I had the trip – and learning experience – of a lifetime in 2024, traveling the U.S. for two months visiting 11 tree care companies in eight different states. After seeing those top-quality operations, I am back home applying – and looking to share – the lessons learned. Remember to get your free subscription to TCI Magazine by clicking here .

BY MEGAN TOWNSEND “I’m ready to grow my business, but I’m stuck with too much on my plate already.” “I can’t take a vacation. My business will fall apart  without me.” “It’s either time with family or a flourishing business. I can’t have both.” Remember to get your free subscription to TCI Magazine by clicking here .

BY RICK HOWLAND With up to a half-million dollars in equipment to protect, not to mention personnel safety and potential liability if something goes wrong on the job site, sometimes it’s the little things that save the tree care day. Take, for example, mats, pads and cribbing for cranes and aerial lifts. Remember to get your free subscription to TCI Magazine by clicking here .

BY MATTHEW BORDEN, DPM Another doom-and-gloom story? There is an ever-growing lineup of new and invasive pests, weeds and diseases with which we, as tree care professionals, must keep up. For foresters and arborists in the mid-Atlantic, New England and parts of the upper Midwest, beech leaf disease (BLD) is one such problem. It has raced toward the front of the line due to its alarming severity, r...

BY DON STARUK John Langdon Iurka, 78, of Sound Beach, Long Island, New York, passed away October 1, 2024, after a courageous battle with cancer. Despite his wish to return home for a cherished old-fashioned cocktail and a quiet moment petting his beloved dogs, that farewell was not to be. He is now at peace and has found comfort and rest. Remember to get your free subscription to TCI Magazine by c...

BY RYAN TORCICOLLO, CTSP, AND MATTHEW MECKLEY, CTSP Before we even get into the details of how to fell a tree, the most important questions we can ask are, “Can we even fell this tree? Do we have room? What are the hazards? ( How much lean does it have? Do we have the tools we need?” To determine if we can even fell the tree, we need to create a five-step felling plan. There are probably five or s...

BY DAVid RATTIGAN Space Perspective, a space-tourism  company, has developed a balloon-and-capsule to take eight passengers about 20 miles in the air, at $125,000 a ride. As Jamie Goddard explains it, that’s, “right at the edge of where you would need a spacesuit.” Remember to get your free subscription to TCI Magazine by clicking here .

BY MARK CHISHOLM, CTSP Whenever I am asked to speak about working with cranes, I always start by discussing the accidents that are happening. This is the foundation for what we should all craft our practices around in order to ultimately avoid the problems others have had. What slings to use, how to attach them, where to make the cut, what cut to use and so on should be derived by the overarching...

BY ANDY JONES, CTSP Eight years ago, my best friend and now business partner gave me a copy of “Knots at Work” for my birthday. This gift came just a month into my journey into the captivating world of tree work. As an aspiring climber, I devoured the book and committed many of its pages to memory. Jeff Jepson’s straightforward style and no-nonsense explanations resonated with me like the work of...

BY CHRIS GIRARD Webster’s New World Dictionary’s definition of a mentor is the following: 1. A wise advisor 2. A teacher or coach. Remember to get your free subscription to TCI Magazine by clicking here .

BY W. JIM CORTESE, BCMA Alex Shigo, father of modern arboriculture, burst on the arboricultural scene in the early 1980s with his theory of compartmentalization of decay in trees, CODIT. With this he changed our collective thinking about trees. He created a revolution in our field of arboriculture. That revolution is continuing today with new generations of researchers helping create new knowledge...