Welcome to the world of arboriculture! If you are somehow stumbling across this article, we are gonna go ahead and assume that you are getting ready to start your adventures in the world of tree climbing.
The arborist community is made up of people who live by certain philosophies and follow the traditions of the tree climbers who came before them.
Since you are just getting ready to start climbing into a new world, there are some things you should know.
You need to learn about the culture of arborists. You need to know how to keep yourself safe and how to climb a tree properly.
With all of that being said, why don’t we just kick it off? Here are some things that we have heard from members of the arborist world that we thought you may find value in.
Related: Do You Like Lists? Do You Like Tree Work? Check Out This List On Life Lessons Learned From Arborists.
1. Attitude Counts More Than Anything
Do you want to be around someone who is always whining and moaning? How about someone who comes into work every day letting everyone know they don’t want to be there?
No?
Then don’t be that person.
Be the person that makes other people laugh. Shake people’s hands. Look them in the eye. Let them know you value the opportunity to work with them.
Remember that you are just starting out and everyone else truly knows more than you do. If that doesn’t make you humble already, learn to be humble. Fast.
Volunteer to do hard jobs that other people don’t want to do. Offer to grab a coffee on your way to work. Say please and thank you.
If things go wrong or it takes you some time to learn some skills, try to avoid getting outwardly frustrated or pissy.
And for crying out loud, show up to work on time every day.
2. Ask How, But Also Ask Why
You are going to be learning a lot as you get started. Try not to be a pain in the butt, but also ask a ton of questions.
After someone shows you how to do something, also ask them how they learned to do each task the way they do it.
If you can understand why things are done the way they are, you will learn better judgment. You will learn when it is OK to improvise and how to make good choices. You will be safer on the job. Not for nothing, but your coworkers will also learn to respect you.
3.Try Everything
As important as it is to hear people talk about tree work, you really need to get first-hand experience to truly learn.
Constantly work on avoiding your comfort zone. If you start to feel pretty good about Single Rope Stationary Climbing, ask someone to help you learn Double Rope Moving Climbing Techniques.
Learn learn learn. Learn about knots, learn about gear, learn about positioning, learn about groundwork, learn about PHC, learn about the differences between trees. Then learn some more.
4. Button Up, Listen And Then Listen Some More
This goes back to attitude, but here is a rule of thumb:
You are way more likely to impress someone by showing you know how to listen than being able to offer them any info they don’t already know.
Nobody with experience wants to learn anything from someone just starting out in tree work. They also won’t expect you to know everything.
Even if you already know the information they are sharing with you, play dumb, or at least pretend to be curious. Let the people with experience do the talking.
They probably won’t think you are cool if you show off your knowledge.
Most importantly, don’t interrupt people. Interrupting is for punks.
5. The Best Gear In The World Won’t Fix Stupid
There is a lot of cool gear out there. The arborist world constantly is introduced to shiny new gadgets.
All of this stuff is flashy and exciting, but if you don’t know the fundamentals of using basic gear, it won’t do anything for you.
We already talked about this, but the most important thing for you to do is to learn.
6. Understand Mechanical Advantages
If you can develop a solid understanding of Mechanical Advantages and how pulleys work, you will improve your climbing game, your rigging game, and work more efficiently.
This skill will make you a more valuable worker.
7. Learn About Bugs About Fertilizer
You need to know about native species of insects. You need to know about invasive species of pests. More importantly, you need to know the difference between which bugs will help a tree and which bugs will harm a tree.
This goes hand in hand with learning about fertilizer. Respect organic mulch and organic fertilizer. Learn which fertilizers encourage plants to develop their own defenses and which ones damage plants or attract nasty pests.
8. Wear Sunscreen Or Get Burnt To A Crisp
Do you wanna look like Mick Jagger, all shriveled up?
Do you want to wake up with a gnarly sunburn?
Does skin cancer sound like fun?
You said no to all of these questions, so say yes to sunscreen.
9: Work With Different People
Nobody knows everything that there is to know about anything.
The more people you work with, the more you will learn. You will also become a more well-rounded climber, even a more well-rounded person. Learn about different people’s perspectives, make friends, get support.
10: Learn To Avoid Topping Off Trees
One thing that really is becoming more and more hated in the arborist community is shamelessly topping off trees that don’t need topping off.
Cutting the top off of a tree damages its structure, it prevents proper photosynthesis, and it can kill trees.
If you prune excessively, someone is going to be struggling to correct the lousy job you did, and that someone may just be you. Resist pressure from clients to cut back on time and do your job the right way the first time.
Put Down Your Phone, Go Out And Have Fun
Since Ten is the number of the day, we are going to cut off here. Remember that Tree Work is a noble profession that values the environment, values community, and values tradition. Now put down your phone, go make some friends, learn something, and have some fun. If you are lucky, you may make some money.
