Customer told me I was "chipping too close to the trunk" on a maple job. Changed everything I do now.

Guy was a retired logger from Vermont. I was young and thought I knew it all. He watched me work for 5 minutes and called me out. Said I was leaving wounds that would never seal right. Turns out he was 100% right. I was cutting flush with the trunk instead of leaving the branch collar. Now I step back and look at the collar ring before every single cut. Has anyone else had a random homeowner teach them something that actually improved their work?

3 comments

3 Comments

nancyw9725d ago

Had a plumber yell at me once for pouring bacon grease down the kitchen sink.

finleyh8925d ago

Oh man, that's a good one. I mean, it's kind of wild how the arborist culture has shifted so hard toward flush cuts over the years, almost like we forgot trees have their own natural way of healing. But here's something I don't see talked about much - maybe that old logger knew about the collar ring because back then, timber guys were cutting trees for profit, not just aesthetics, so they had to think about long-term healing for the next harvest. Like, they'd see the same tree 20 years later and know if they messed up. Us landscapers and arborists, we often just come in, make the cut, and never see that tree again. So that homeowner basically handed you a perspective we all should borrow from.

tara_jones9425d ago

That bit about timber guys seeing the same tree 20 years later really hit me. We're all in such a rush these days, get in get out, never really have to live with the consequences of a bad cut. I've worked with guys who would just buzz through a pruning job like it was a race, never even glanced back at the tree. Hard to argue with someone who actually has to look at the same stump year after year and know their mistake is still right there staring back at them. That old logger probably saved that maple a whole lot of rot and disease just by speaking up.