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News and Blog Articles
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Two of the services Classic City Arborists is proud to offer can often be confusing: the free estimate service and our Tree Risk Assessments. Free estimates involve customers asking for our professional opinion on specific projects or individual trees; for more information, please see our Free Estimates article! Tree Risk Assessments (TRAs), on the other hand, are a lot more intensive, and are subsequently not a free service. During a TRA, a qualified arborist will evaluate all the trees on a given plot of land to assess their risk potential and then advise the owner or manager of the property of which trees may require immediate attention. But what does that mean?First of all, you have to be certified by the International Society of Arboriculture (ISA) with their Tree Risk Assessment Qualification (TRAQ) to perform a TRA; Scott Rushing proudly earned his TRAQ in January of 2019. His name is listed on the ISA’s Trees are Good website along with all other certified arborists. To qualify to take the TRAQ course, you have to meet certain requirements as an arborist, such as being an ISA-Certified Arborist or having a degree in arboriculture, forestry, or horticulture. Scott holds a Bachelor's in Agricultural Education from the University of Georgia and is an ISA-Certified Arborist. The TRAQ itself involves a two-day, instructor-lead educational course, followed by half a day of both written and field assessments. Once completed successfully, the certification is active for five years; TRAQ holders must take a renewal course, which involves an abbreviated version of both the original educational material and test. What is the TRAQ?
There are three different levels of intensity when it comes to Tree Risk Assessments. The first level is referred to as a limited-visual assessment, also sometimes referred to as drive-by assessments. This level of assessment is commonly employed in urban forest environments, but can be required anywhere a visual inspection is difficult to perform due to limited access. In a limited-visual assessment, the arborist will scan for obvious high-risk trees with immediate care needs.
These three processes were created to help property owners, property managers, and tree owners get the information they need to make educated decisions regarding the trees in their care, whether that decision is to trim back some limbs, let the tree grow normally, or cut the tree down entirely. Basically, this means that a TRAQ-holding arborist can accurately and efficiently follow the standardized, systematic process for assessing any tree’s potential risk, as defined by the International Society for Arboriculture. By adhering to the ISA’s guidelines, certified arborists ensure that each risk assessment is as accurate, consistent, and thorough as possible.
When performing a TRA, no matter its level, Scott keeps these benefits and risks in mind, aiming to weigh the two against each other and ensure customers are aware of when the risks outweigh the benefits, and vise versa. He will look at and document a variety of factors pertinent to the decision-making process, including structural condition, tree load, tree adaptation, relation to surrounding structures, and proximity to traffic and populated areas; he will use this information to evaluate a tree’s risk of failure, the degree of that failure, the consequences of that failure, and the potential surrounding targets that may be affected by that failure. After the evaluation, each tree will receive a risk category that can then be compared to the level of risk that you, as the property owner or manager, find acceptable. The four risk categories are Low, Moderate, High, and Hazard/Hazardous. Low and Moderate risk ratings are not usually recommended for full removal, while High and Hazardous are. Acceptable risk level may be determined by a homeowner’s association, or your town or county (or even state) standards.
Each mitigation option will be detailed out along with its respective cost. This way you can determine, not only which options are more pressing, but also which ones are within your budget. More information on free estimates and what this line-item evaluation will look like can be found here. At the end of the day, getting a Tree Risk Assessment from Classic City Arborists is one of the best ways to get you have all the information you need about all the trees in your care to ensure they are set to live long, happy, and healthy lives. If you’d like to schedule a Tree Risk Asessment, please click here! AuthorEmily Casuccio is sister and sister-in-law to Rebekah and Scott Rushing, and has over half a decade of experience in copywriting, copyediting, proofreading, and developmental storyboarding. She's worked with both published and undiscovered authors on both fiction and nonfiction, and takes pride in supporting local businesses. Her passion lies in the written word and helping authors of all capacities realize their dreams and achieve their fullest potential. To learn more about her, read samples of her work, or contact her, visit her online portfolio. Sources: ISA Tree Risk Assessment Qualification Community Tree Risk Assessment Tree Risk Assessment Methods: A Comparison of Three Common Evaluation Forms
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“Free estimate” can mean a lot of different things, and as you might expect, every company has its own standards on what a free estimate entails. Generally speaking, free estimates include a company representative coming out to your property, assessing the work you’d like done, and offering an estimated cost for that work. Sometimes, that free estimate includes anything and everything you’d like evaluated, and sometimes it can only include one evaluation of one tree. Sometimes it can be twenty minutes long, and other times, it might take over an hour. And sometimes, “free” doesn’t really mean “free,” and you might end up paying for extra time, extra assessments, or other hidden costs. So what do our free estimates include?At Classic City Arborists, when we say “free estimate,” we mean a completely free estimate. No time limit, no maximum number of trees we’ll look at, and no hidden costs.
Estimate lengths are hard to pin down, because each and every one is different. When you schedule, your appointment will likely be scheduled for a range of time (like between 2pm and 4pm, or from 10am to 12pm).
Once Scott gets there, it becomes your show! Since you’re the one who knows what kind of work you’re looking to have done, which trees you’re concerned about, what foliage you’d like removed, etc, Scott will look to you to show him around. He’ll follow you from tree to tree on your property and listen to your thoughts, asking a lot of questions and taking detailed notes as you go. He’ll give you rough estimates of how much what you’re wanting will cost, and offer his expert advice. Some examples of work you might ask about includes things like “I need this tree removed so I can put a pool here,” or “this tree is too close to our house, and it drops nuts and twigs on our roof,” or “I think this tree is dead, and I don’t want it to fall on my fence.” The length of time your estimate takes depends on how many issues you want addressed, and how much discussion each one takes. Here at Classic City Arborists, we pride ourselves on our informative, honest treatment of our customers. Scott isn’t there to try and sell you extra work, or scam you into giving us more money; we believe in explaining to our customers exactly how much a job will cost them, if that job is necessary, or if there’s other work that needs to be done for safety or to accomplish what the customer is looking for.
This is one of the reasons we believe it’s extremely important that Scott is ISA-certified; not only can he do the work you want done, but he can tell you if it’s necessary or if there’s more work that needs to be done for you, your home, and your family to be safe.
Keeping in line with our policy of honesty and transparency, we always encourage customers to get more than one estimate on the work they want done. This helps you to get a real feel for the market cost of this kind of work, and allows you to meet other professionals in this field that might have different opinions, suggestions, and/or recommendations. We want you to get the work you need done, at the price you can afford – even if that’s not with us. If you do choose to move forward with us, yay! We will get your work scheduled and be in touch with you on a weekly basis until the work is completed. If you choose to work with a different company, however, then kudos for doing your research and making an informed decision. We do, however, recommend that no matter what company you choose to work with, you find someone that is insured, preferably with automobile insurance, general liability insurance, and worker’s compensation coverage. These things will add some cost to your work, but they protect you from liability in the event of an accident. Whatever your decision, we’re honored that you chose us for an estimate, and appreciate your business no matter its capacity. Click Here to schedule your free estimate today! AuthorEmily Casuccio is sister and sister-in-law to Rebekah and Scott Rushing, and has over half a decade of experience in copywriting, copyediting, proofreading, and developmental storyboarding. She's worked with both published and undiscovered authors on both fiction and nonfiction, and takes pride in supporting local businesses. Her passion lies in the written word and helping authors of all capacities realize their dreams and achieve their fullest potential. To learn more about her, read samples of her work, or contact her, visit her online portfolio. Quercus phellos, otherwise known as the willow oak, is a deciduous tree of the red oak family, native to North America.
These medium-sized trees typically reach heights of 65 to 100 feet with a trunk diameter between 4 and 5 feet, though some have been recorded growing as high as 128 feet with a trunk diameter of up to 6 feet. Despite their grand size, these oaks typically maintain a shallow, fibrous root zone, making them easy to transplant. Thanks to their value as shade trees, willow oaks are a popular choice to line sidewalks or public parks; when young, they have a pyramid-like shape that will fill out to a more round shape as they age. This visually pleasing balance of axial and radial dominance, in addition to its full crown and delicate leaves that contrast those of other oaks, makes willow oaks an attractive addition to any landscape.
Subsequently, these trees are referred to as willow oaks, despite having no actual relation to willow trees (though they do share a similar manner of absorbing water!).
During the spring, willow oak leaves are a bright, attractive green on top with a paler, muted green on the underside. This underside can sometimes be lined with downy hair, but the leaves are otherwise hairless. The distribution of the leaves creates a dappled shade effect; if you’ve ever sat beneath one, you know how relaxing it is to have enough light to see by without being hounded by the harsher of the sun’s rays. In summer, the leaves darken to a warmer green, and in autumn, they can turn a stunning golden yellow or a rustic, burnt red before they fall, making them even more attractive as a landscape addition. Georgia is well-known for its beautiful fall landscapes, and willow oaks are no exception!
The bark of the willow oak ranges from a muted brown to a soft grey color and is identified as chunky-scaly, referring to the irregular fissures that run along the trunk. As a kid, you probably tried to peel bark like this to see how long a piece you could get! With this color and pattern combination, willow oaks are considered attractive even when bare, making them visually pleasing even during the winter.
In addition to their expansive size, willow oaks can present stark competition for sunlight, water, soil nutrients, and other resources. Their elevated water needs when young will often have them pirating water from other plants in the area, and their rapid growth rate means they can easily deplete surrounding soil of its nutrients as quickly as it can be replaced, leaving little to no nutrients for other flora in the area. If you have a lot of other trees and plants around, make sure your willow oak doesn’t steal all their resources!
Overall, when considering adding a willow oak to your yard or home landscape, keep in mind their growth rate and size, as well as their high water needs when young; where space permits, these trees are a grand addition, so long as they are left ample room to grow to their full potential, and are sufficiently supplied with water and nutrients to prevent negatively impacting the surrounding flora. AuthorEmily Casuccio is sister and sister-in-law to Rebekah and Scott Rushing, and has over half a decade of experience in copywriting, copyediting, proofreading, and developmental storyboarding. She's worked with both published and undiscovered authors on both fiction and nonfiction, and takes pride in supporting local businesses. Her passion lies in the written word and helping authors of all capacities realize their dreams and achieve their fullest potential. To learn more about her, read samples of her work, or contact her, visit her online portfolio. Sources: Willlow Oak, Gardening Know How Willow Oak, University of Kentucky Willow Oak, Wikipedia.org Willow Oak, Wood Database Images:
Pic 1 - Online Plant Nursery, onlineplantnursery.com/buy-willow-oak-tree-for-sale Pic 2 - Dave's Garden, davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/53594/#b Pic 3 - Kiefer Nursery, kiefernursery.com/product/quercus-phellos/ Pic 4 - Shade Tree Farm, shadetreefarm.com/2011/01/05/willow-oak/ Pic 5 - Nativ Nurseries, nativnurseries.com Pic 6 - Arbor Day Blog, arbordayblog.org/treeoftheweek/willow-oak-handsome-southerner/ Did You Know Pic - American Forests, americanforests.org/big-trees/willow-oak-quercus-phellos/ |
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