(Text) treepeople.org. This document is intended for individuals, communities, and municipalities to be a resource for understanding and communicating the potential of urban soils to build climate resilience and a toolkit for identifying and implementing best management practices for realizing that potential. The capacity of our manifold urban systems–water, waste, energy, forests, among others–are all greater and their sustainability and resilience bolstered through the implementation of best management practices for soils in urban landscapes.

(Text) Industry standards. We appreciate that the standards are continually updated, but the recent versions are not freely accessible (or even low cost), so this is a dated version found online. While not perfect, it can be a very helpful standard from which to apply best management practices, which is a commonly lacking in commercial/community land care. It’s worth noting that the “Eco-Respondent Cycle” tool is in line with these standards.

(Text/Video) “A New Approach: We don’t utilize the traditional and well established production tree care model. We’re creating an entirely different model for tree care.

The tree care industry gives people the impression that trees need to be cut and trimmed for their own sake. Why else would every tree company have big chippers? And why else would they need the fancy lifts and big bucket trucks?

Traditional tree companies equip and operate for production purposes. They are incentivized to cut and prune as much as possible. The great irony is now, in their efforts, they cause more problems for trees than trees do for themselves.

Tree First originated in opposition to that observation. We didn’t want to work for paying off big chippers. We didn’t want to work to set trees back while we were telling customers it was good for them.

Instead, we equipped for trees. We swore to operate through a tree-first lens. To separate and make clear tree necessity from our own human necessity. This is the way we chose for our practice, and it is why we chose it as our namesake.”

(Text) Cass Turnbull. A quick introductory guide to selective pruning.

“PlantAmnesty, established in 1987, is a 1000-member nonprofit organization whose mission is to provide education, resources, and advocacy to prevent malpruning and preserve urban greenspaces.

We have a sense of humor and a mission. We specialize in using the media to alert the public to crimes against nature being committed in their own back yards, specifically tree topping and the nuisance shearing of shrubs. Once we have the public's attention, we supply all the solutions: a referral service of skilled gardeners and arborists, classes and workshops, instructional YouTube videos and how-to literature on selective pruning in English and Spanish. We also host volunteer pruning events for needy and deserving trees and gardens, including the Arbor Day Tree Prune and Volunteer Yard Renovations.

For our work on pruning reform, we have won several awards including three Gold Leaf Awards from the International Society of Arboriculture, the Arbor Day Foundation's Education Award, and Washington State's Urban Forest Stewardship Award.”

(Service) Infrastructure is part of our ecosystem. Knowing can keep you safe, make more informed decisions and limit liability in case something happens. Miss Dig 811 can inform you on this through flagging or design maps. It’s a free service and we definitely recommend calling before you dig.