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A homeowner in Bellingham asked me to save a tree that was already gone
I was called out to look at a bigleaf maple with major dieback. The client met me at the base, pointed up, and said 'I just need you to cut off the dead bits.' I had to explain that over 60 percent of the canopy was gone and the trunk had a hollow you could fit your arm into. He kept insisting there was plenty of green left to work with. How do you handle a job where the client's attachment to a tree clouds the safety call?
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anna_henderson7mo ago
Start by showing them the math. I pull out my phone and take a picture of the tree, then draw a rough circle around what's actually alive. When you put that green part next to the whole dead canopy, the picture tells the story better than words. Explain that my insurance won't let me send a climber into a tree that's mostly a hazard, because it's not about if it will fail, but when. Sometimes you have to be blunt and say keeping it is choosing to have a giant, rotten limb crash through their roof later.
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