The Arborists Who Built Us
Why Knowledge Transfer Still Matters in Modern Tree Care
There was a time in the tree care industry when many so-called “tree experts” owned little more than a pickup truck, a chainsaw, and a strong back. Formal credentials were uncommon. Safety standards varied widely. Much of what young arborists learned came from observation, mistakes, and the willingness of experienced professionals to share what they knew.
The technical side of arboriculture has changed tremendously over the last 50 years. Equipment is better. Research is better. Safety culture is stronger. Tree biology is better understood. Modern arborists have access to tools and information that previous generations could scarcely imagine.
Yet one of the most important aspects of tree work has changed very little — arboriculture remains a profession built on mentorship.
A Profession Built on Mentorship
Most of the lessons that truly shape an arborist are not learned from textbooks or PowerPoint presentations. They are learned on jobsites, during pre-dawn tailgate meetings, while dragging brush at the end of a long day, or during long drives between work sites listening to experienced arborists explain why certain mistakes should never be repeated.
The tree care industry has always depended on experienced professionals passing knowledge down to the next generation. Without that process, arboriculture simply reinvents the wheel over and over again.
Good mentors teach more than climbing systems and pruning cuts — they teach judgment.
Judgment may be one of the least discussed but most valuable skills in arboriculture. Every day, arborists balance biology, safety, risk management, client expectations, aesthetics, and practical realities. Textbooks can explain proper pruning techniques, but experience teaches restraint. Experience teaches when a tree can reasonably be preserved and when removal is the responsible recommendation. Experience teaches when a client needs education rather than agreement.
Some of the most important lessons in arboriculture are still passed from one arborist to another the old-fashioned way.
One longtime industry mentor used to say, “You can’t make money in the tree business until you get out of the trees.”
The statement has proven true for countless companies. Technical ability may launch a business, but long-term success is usually built on leadership, training, client communication, and the ability to develop employees into professionals.
Another saying was: “Plant health care treatments are the profit in the tree care business.”
When that advice was first shared, many companies focused almost exclusively on removals and pruning. Plant health care was still emerging as a meaningful component of professional arboriculture. Today, many successful firms recognize that preventative care, monitoring, and long-term client relationships are essential parts of a sustainable business model.
Wisdom like this rarely comes from a manual. It comes from experience — and from people willing to share it.
Learning from the Trees
The evolution of modern arboriculture has also been shaped by individuals willing to challenge long-held assumptions about trees themselves.
Few people influenced the profession more than Alex Shigo, often referred to as the Father of Modern Arboriculture. His research on the Compartmentalization of Decay in Trees permanently changed how arborists understand pruning, decay, and tree response to injury.
Much of modern arboriculture traces back to his work. Many arborists working today are, in a sense, “Shigots” — saplings that grew from Shigo’s influence.
One of his most enduring observations was simple: “If you want to know trees, you must touch trees.”
That statement matters as much today as it did decades ago.
Modern arborists have access to sophisticated diagnostic tools, research databases, aerial imagery, and consulting reports. All of these have tremendous value. Yet some lessons can only be learned through direct observation and repeated exposure to real trees under real conditions.
Decay patterns, root problems, bark characteristics, canopy density, structural defects, species-specific growth habits — these are things that become fully understood only through experience.
Trees remain the best teachers in arboriculture.
Shigo also offered guidance that continues to influence plant health care practices today:
“If you are going to inject a tree, make the wound as small and shallow as possible.”
While treatment technologies continue to evolve, the principle remains relevant. Arborists should always ask whether a treatment achieves its objective while minimizing unnecessary injury to the tree. Effectiveness matters, but so does stewardship.
The industry can sometimes become overly focused on production rates and efficiency metrics while forgetting a simple truth: arboriculture is biological work.
Trees are living organisms, not utility poles.
Developing People, Not Just Employees
The same philosophy applies to the people who work in the industry.
One of the most overlooked aspects of running a tree care company is employee development. Many employers struggle to find “good employees,” but the reality is that arboriculture has faced hiring and retention challenges for decades. It was difficult in the 1980s, and it remains difficult today.
The solution has never been lowering standards. The solution is training.
Employees cannot be expected to become skilled arborists through repetition alone. Good arboriculture requires observation, critical thinking, communication skills, professionalism, and pride in workmanship. People need to understand not only how to perform a task, but why that task matters.
The strongest crew members are often not the fastest workers or the most aggressive climbers. They are the individuals who understand biology, risk, professionalism, and teamwork. The best companies recognize this and invest accordingly.
Training should extend beyond chainsaws, rigging systems, and climbing techniques. Some of the most valuable employee education has little to do with cutting trees at all.
Over the years, successful companies have brought in outside instructors to teach:
- First aid
- Defensive driving
- Fruit-tree pruning
- Financial responsibility
- Equipment safety
- Plant identification
- Pest and disease diagnostics
The result is usually the same: better employees, safer operations, and stronger retention.
People who are educated and respected tend to take greater pride in their work. They become invested not only in their company, but also in their clients and in the profession itself.
That investment matters because tree care is not easy work.
Arborists operate around gravity, electricity, traffic, weather, decay, machinery, and human error every day. The consequences of poor judgment can be immediate and severe.
Which brings us back to mentorship.
The Responsibility to Teach
The tree care industry will always need experienced professionals who are willing to teach younger arborists — not just how to work, but how to think.
That means teaching:
- Restraint
- Observation
- Professionalism
- Client communication
- Safety culture
- Respect for tree biology
- Personal accountability
These lessons rarely appear on production reports. They are difficult to measure and impossible to quantify on a spreadsheet.
Yet they often determine whether an arborist becomes merely competent or truly exceptional.
The part of tree work nobody writes about is not equipment, production rates, software platforms, or sales numbers. It is the responsibility experienced professionals carry to develop the next generation.
Like properly supported trees, young arborists grow strongest when given both guidance and enough freedom to stand on their own.
And much like the trees they care for, the best arborists never stop growing.
About W. Jim Cortese:
W. Jim Cortese is a longtime arborist, forestry expert, and natural history enthusiast based in Knoxville, Tennessee. A graduate of the University of Tennessee in Forest Resource Management, he spent more than four decades working in arboriculture, consulting on hundreds of tree appraisal, thousands of tree preservation cases and lecturing extensively on plant health care and tree biology.
Cortese is also a co-founder of the Knoxville Botanical Garden and Arboretum and has helped identify and preserve historic trees throughout Tennessee. His book John Muir Climbs a Tree and Other Tree Tales is believed to be the first anthology devoted entirely to stories about trees, bringing together historical narratives, legends, and reflections inspired by trees.
