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Saturday, December 14, 2024

What Is a Consulting Arborist?

Arborists are trained in the art and science of planting, caring for and maintaining individual trees. They are also qualified to diagnose problems, provide recommendations for tree care and can testify as expert witnesses in legal cases. Arborists may have a wide range of specialties, depending on their education, experience and qualifications. Consulting Arborists are considered the highest level of arboriculture and are best equipped to do specialised jobs such as tree risk assessments, tree valuations, comprehensive tree evaluations and tree management plans for example.

A Consulting Arborist may perform the same tasks as a Commercial Arborist, but they are more often hired to write detailed reports for homeowners or businesses. They may also be called to give expert testimony for legal cases involving trees and are more likely to be involved in planning/development projects that involve existing mature trees.

When looking for a Consulting Arborist to help you with a specific job or project it is important to remember that they are only providing advice and not carrying out any contracting work. A good way to distinguish them from a Commercial Arborist is that the Consulting Arborist will not be affiliated with a tree care company who do the work and will instead charge for their professional services independently.

Consulting Arborists often collaborate with landscape designers, contractors, municipal urban foresters, property owners and municipalities for tree retention/protection during construction projects. This is a very complex role that requires a lot of communication and coordination to keep the mature trees on sites safe, secure and stable throughout the construction process.

It is very important to remember that not all Consulting Arborists are registered with the American Society of Consulting Arborists (ASCA). This credential is earned by demonstrating a high level of knowledge of professional practices and procedures through written reports. The path to becoming a Registered Consulting Arborist (RCA) includes formal postgraduate education in the field of arboriculture, completion of ASCA’s own Consulting Academy, a minimum of three years of professional experience and 30 hours of continuing education units every 3 years to maintain registration.

The ICA (International Council of Arboriculture) is another well-respected body for the certification of arborists. The ICA offers several credentials including Certified Arborist and Tree Assessor. To be a Certified Arborist you must have completed a formal education in the field of arboriculture and passed an exam with 200 multiple choice questions covering a variety of topics such as biology, soils, pruning, tree risk assessment, protection during development and climbing knots.

Choosing an independent Consulting Arborist is the best way to ensure that you are receiving objective, professional and unbiased advice. A good place to start is with your local arboricultural societies. Many of them have lists of registered consulting arborists and you can ask the consulting arborists you are interested in for referrals.

Growing Earth Tree is an ISA Certified Arborist and Tree Preservation Specialist, and has a team of highly qualified, professional, Consulting Arborists who will be able to offer you unbiased opinions and recommendations on any of your tree related projects.



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