Dakota Gardener: Pay the man or the woman

My friend Don is recovering from a dislocated shoulder.

He was on a ladder, using a chainsaw to prune branches from a tree. The first three branches came down safely and as planned. The last one did not.

The final branch remained partially attached to the tree as it fell. The branch swept back towards the ladder and knocked it out from beneath Don.

You can figure out the rest.

Even though he was injured, Don realizes how lucky he was. A dislocated shoulder is tough, but it could've been a lot worse.

Cutting with a chainsaw while on a ladder is one of the most dangerous things a person can do. Tree-care professionals don't do it. Instead, chainsaw pruning is done from bucket trucks or some other type of lift.

Arboriculture – the (study and) management of individual trees – is one of the most dangerous professions out there. At the professional tree-care conferences every year, safety presentations dominate the agenda.

Because of the dangerous work, insurance rates for professional arborists are also high.

It's a tough business to be in. Equipment costs and insurance rates are high. Maintaining professional credentials takes both time and money. Getting and keeping quality employees is critical to maintaining competitiveness.

A few weeks ago, a local arborist knocked on our door, asking if we needed any tree work completed. I thanked him, but our trees are in good shape for now.

Three years ago, we hired another local tree-care company to remove a dead elm tree. It was located over a shed and it was near a power line.

There was no way I was going to tackle that job. While I might've been able to do it safely, a lot of really bad things could've happened. I've never taken the training for doing tree work around power lines and I don't own a lift for doing such work.

So I decided to "pay the man," as they say. It was pricey, but it was worth every penny. He took the tree down safely and removed all the debris. He took all the risk, and he charged handsomely for his work. As he should have!

Don, in retrospect, saw how he could have done the work differently. He could have hired it out or he could have remained on the ground and used a pole saw. Either would have been safer than what he did.

I've heard many people complain about the expense of tree removal. They fear the projected cost of taking down large trees that are in hard-to-access locations.

I tell those people the same thing every time. First, get multiple quotes. Second, make sure that the company that does the work has insurance. And finally, pay the man. It's worth it.

One last note – though most tree-care workers are men, there are several women in the industry and more women are getting into the business every year. These professionals have the training and skills, and do great work. Therefore, when appropriate, pay the woman. She's worth it.