Travis Morales with Trees Plus, Northwest Florida’s premier full-service tree and landscaping company since 1992, recently demonstrated professional experience and competency by successfully completing the Certified Arborist examination administered by the International Society of Arboriculture (ISA).
“Trees Plus is proud to support Travis and his commitment to personal and professional development,” said Rob Williamson, ISA Certified Arborist and owner of Trees Plus. “We continue to focus on education and professional standards that allow us to give valuable service for our clients. With another ISA Certified Arborist on staff, Trees Plus continues to separate ourselves as the leader for knowledgeable tree care in NW Florida.”
The purpose of the ISA certification program is to improve the level of knowledge and standard of practice within the tree care profession. It is designed to assist the public in identifying those professionals in arboriculture (tree care) who have demonstrated, through a professionally developed examination and education program, a thorough knowledge of tree care practices.
"I am proud to be able to follow my years of knowledge in this industry with an ISA Arborist Certification, and be able to better serve the individual needs of Trees Plus clients,” said Mr. Morales.
The International Society of Arboriculture is a scientific and educational organization devoted to the dissemination of information in the care and preservation of shade and ornamental trees. ISA's certification program is designed to promote the professional development of those involved in the field of arboriculture tree care. When contracting for your tree care needs, contact individuals who are certified through this voluntary program.
About Trees Plus
Trees Plus is a full-service tree and landscaping company, covering the needs of residential, commercial, municipal customers across Northwest Florida since 1992. Their services include tree pruning, tree planting, tree treatment, bracing and cabling, tree removal and stump grinding. Landscaping, hurricane preparation, post storm emergency tree care and arborist consultation services (expert witness, tree preservation, land development, construction site planning and tree appraisal services)
Their service area includes Pensacola, Gulf Breeze, Navarre, Pace, Mary Esther, Fort Walton Beach, Shalimar, Niceville, Crestview, Destin, Sandestin, Santa Rosa Beach and Miramar Beach in Escambia, Santa Rosa, Okaloosa, and Walton Counties. Rob Williamson and Travis Morales can be reached at 850-939-9979 or rob@treesplusonline.com. To learn more about Trees Plus, visit www.treesplusonline.comThe number of research proposals submitted to the Tree Research and Education Endowment (TREE) Fund each year far outstrips the funds available to implement them. For example, research grant requests over the past year totaled more than $815,000 and the TREE Fund was only able to support about 18 percent of that. Business and academic researchers are not at a loss for problems to solve or questions that need an answer. The voices of the industry that communicate these needs to researchers are definitely being heard.
“Research grant requests over the past year totaled more than $815,000 and the Tree Research and Education Endowment (TREE) Fund was only able to support about 18% of that.”
The genus Ilex, holly, plays a significant role in the beliefs and traditions of the winter season. To the Romans, hollies were the trees of the god Saturn and wreaths of holly were gifts during his holiday, Saturnalia. In Celtic legends, evergreen hollies with their beautiful red berries, announced the ascension of the Holly King who ruled the forest with his green leaves in summer. For Christians, the pointed leaves of the holly are associated with the crown of thorns worn by Jesus and the bright red holly berries symbolize drops of his blood.
For arborists and plant health care technicians, hollies are among the most important landscape plants and they require special attention due to the presence of a few egregious scale insect plants.
Soft scales injure hollies in two ways. First, by removing the vital products of photosynthesis, soft scales rob hollies of nutrients. In heavy infestations, leaves become chlorotic and sometimes drop prematurely. Chronic infestations can result in dieback of branches. Second, to obtain adequate nutrients for development and reproduction, these scales imbibe large volumes of sap. Processed sap is excreted in the form of a sugar-laden liquid called honeydew.
As honeydew accumulates on leaves beneath the scale, a black fungus called sooty mold colonizes the sticky liquid and uses the sugars as a substrate for growth. Sooty mold does not harm the holly directly, that is, it is not pathogenic. However, sooty mold’s grimy appearance is disagreeable and one can imagine that enough sooty mold might cut down on the plant’s ability to gather energy from sunlight. Fortunately, once the scales are controlled, sooty mold is easily removed with a vigorous plant wash.
Managing soft scales on holly
As with all pest and abiotic problems, early detection is the key to effective management. During the regular inspection of hollies, make note of discolored leaves or branches with dieback. Carefully inspect the lower surface of leaves for signs of soft scale nymphs or white waxy ovisacs. The presence of honeydew and ants, wasps and bees that forage on honeydew are good indicators of soft scale infestations. Accumulating sooty mold is another dead giveaway of the presence of these pests.
by Michael J. Raupp, Tree Care Industry Magazine, Vol. XXLL, Number 1-January 2011
Navarre, FL — July 12, 2010 — Trees Plus, one of northwest Florida's oldest and most respected full service tree care and landscaping companies, today announced owner, Rob Williamson was named as a finalist in the ISA's True Professionals of Arboriculture award, for the second consecutive year. Mr. Williamson was one of twenty-one finalists out of more than 20,000 ISA certified arboricultural professionals from around the United States. Mr. Williamson was also named The State of Florida's 2009 "Outstanding Professional" by the Florida Urban Forestry Council earlier this year.
"It was a very difficult process to choose our finalists from so many outstanding nominees. Rob really stood out by his commitment to client service and his extensive community involvement. We hope he gets nominated again in 2011," said Sonia Garth, ISA Public Relations Manager. The award finalists are judged on their interaction with customers, leadership of employees and their communications.
It is common for nominees to come from the northeast United States and areas with high emphasis on nature and national parks, where local citizens and government are acutely aware of the need for knowledgeable Arborists. Commercial, municipal, military and residential property owners and managers in Northwest Florida can now benefit from having a nationally recognized, highly trained tree care specialist available in their own backyard.
Rob Williamson is an ISA Certified Arborist and his professional affiliations include the ISA, TCIA (The only TCIA member in Northwest Florida), Florida Urban Forestry Council, Nursery Growers and Landscape Association and the Society of Municipal Arborists.Prior to acquiring Trees Plus, Rob enjoyed success in the golf industry as a General Manger for Walt Disney World Golf, American Golf and Meadowbrook Golf properties. Under his management, each property experienced unprecedented growth in revenue and membership.
"To be recognized by the ISA again as a finalist for the True Professionals award, lets me know we are headed in the right direction as a business. Having said that, of course I want to win it! I will continue to raise awareness for tree related issues and increase our presence in the community I call home."
More information about Trees Plus or to read Rob's blog can be found at www.TreesPlusOnline.com. Contact Trees Plus via email at info@TreesPlusOnline.com, or by calling (850) 939-9979. Information about the ISA award program and the certification program is found on the International Society of Arboriculture website at www.ISA-Arbor.com.
###
About Trees Plus
Serving Okaloosa, Walton, Escambia and Santa Rosa counties since 1992. Trees Plus is a full service tree care and landscaping provider. Services include hurricane preparation, tree preservation, consulting services, expert witness, construction site planning, tree appraisal services, tree pruning, tree installations, emergency tree care, tree removal, and stump and debris removal.
About the International Society of Arboriculture (ISA)
The ISA, headquartered in Champaign, Ill., is a nonprofit organization supporting tree care research and education around the world. As part of ISA's dedication to the care and preservation of shade and ornamental trees, it offers the only internationally-recognized certification program in the industry. For more information, contact a local ISA Certified Arborist or visit www.isa-arbor.com.
Please join Rob and Amie Williamson of Trees Plus for their Santa Rosa County Chamber ribbon cutting this Friday 7/9/10. Lunch will be at Nichols Seafood Restaurant in Pace at noon following the Small Business Networking Lunch!
Trees Plus is a Full Service Tree Care and Landscaping Company located in Santa Rosa County, Florida.
Amie Williamson, the Navarre Chamber's member of the month for July 2010 is currently a member of the Chamber’s Board of Directors and works tirelessly on the Chamber’s behalf. She is the chair of the Small Business Development Committee and has created two new programs this year to help chamber members get the most out of their membership. The first is a new 'Jumpstart Your Business' educational workshop series, and the second is Xtreme Networking, which gives chamber members a unique forum to tell other members about their businesses. This is her first year as a board member, and she has already made her mark.
I last wrote about IPM and what its objective is, now if we ad BMP’s to the IPM system the result is a low input, healthy lawn. BMP’s are best management practices. In other words, what allows the grass to be the healthiest, and how to do it. There are several factors that make up the BMP’s for a yard: height of cut, fertilizer type, and watering make up the big 3.
Lots of times people want to mow their yard as short as possible, this is not good for the grass and increases the chance of weeds, and disease. Lower mowing allows more sunlight to get to the soil and allows weeds to grow as they will be able to get sun. Lower mowing requires more water, and more water leads to more weeds and more disease. A higher cut allows a greater leaf surface, thus increasing the chlorophyll production making the plant healthier.
Fertilizer type and frequency is key also. I hear people say “ I put out a 34-0-0, but the yard didn’t green up for long.” Using the proper fertilizer a 50-pound bag of a 21-0-0 can provide an entire summers worth of feeding as opposed to 1 day worth of feeding with a 34-0-0. The type of nitrogen is the key. Slow/controlled release fertilizer is best so that the plant actually uses all the fertilizer you put out.
Water ties back to the mowing height but it is key. As stated earlier too much water leads to weeds and disease, not enough water leads to desiccation. The right amount of water at the wrong time can lead to disease, better yet the right amount of water for the plant at the right time can also lead to runoff. How is that? If your plant needs 20 minutes of water but at 10 minutes the ground has reached saturation, everything else just runs off, increasing your need for more water and increasing your water bill.
So how do you know what the right amount of water is? There is a formula called the evapotransporation rate, which is how much water evaporates in a day, plus how much water a plant transpires. This rate each day can be found online, or you could get a “smart” irrigation controller installed by Trees Plus. You will eliminate water runoff, and cut your water bill significantly. Want to know more, give us a call.
In the event we are directly impacted by Hurricane Ida, Trees Plus is ready to help keep you and your family safe!
Following the storm, as soon as it is safe to do so, Trees Plus will mobilize crews to provide emergency tree care services, as we have done since 1992.
Please call one of the numbers below if you need any assistance. Be Safe!
Thank you and stay safe!
Warm Regards,
The Trees Plus Team
Santa Rosa 850.939.9979
Okaloosa 850.244.1680
Escambia 850.916.9992
info@treesplusonline.com
www.TreesPlusOnline.com
_______________________________
The Navarre Beach Area Chamber of Commerce recently recognized Trees Plus as the Small Business of the Month for November 2009. The business opened in 1992 with only three employees and has continued to expand, doubling their employee base to keep up with their growing business.
The owners of Trees Plus, Amie and Rob Williamson, have been involved with the Navarre Chamber since 2008, sponsoring, promoting, and actively participating in many events and committees. In addition to membership with the Navarre Chamber, the business is an affiliate member of The Navarre Area Board of Realtors and was the headline sponsor of their Annual Homes on Tour event in 2009. Civic contributions include donating tree work services to protect historic areas in both Okaloosa and Santa Rosa Counties.
Most recently, Rob was named a finalist in the International Society of Arboriculture's (ISA) True Professionals of Arboriculture award. He was one of the sixteen finalists out of more than 20,000 ISA certified arboricultural professionals from around the United States. Additionally, Amie was recently nominated and elected to serve as a Director on the Navarre Chamber's Board of Directors, and will take office 2010.
As a small business of the month recipient, Trees Plus is eligible to compete for the Annual Small Business of the Year, to be awarded at the Annual Installation and Awards Celebration, January 9, 2010. Award eligibility requirements include being a current chamber member, in business a minimum of one year, and having fewer than 50 employees. Additional considerations include: active membership, business growth and public service or civic contributions.
For more information about the chamber and other programs affiliated with the Navarre Beach Area Chamber of Commerce, call 939-3267 or log on to www.navarrechamber.com.
I was conducting a hurricane evaluation for a client recently and a question came up. How do I hurricane-proof my trees? Many clients have the same goal of tree preservation along with home protection. The truth is, most indigenous trees, if properly maintained, should perform without failure during a wind event. The key is eliminating pre-existing conditions while lead to tree failure. Following Hurricane Ike that struck the Houston area in 2008, insurance carriers commissioned a study to analyze the claims they paid. One Houston company discovered that roughly 50% of all structural losses were caused by fallen trees and tree limbs. However, his insurer went one step further and hired an arborist to inspect the trees and determine why the failure had occured. That high winds caused the tree failures was not a surprise; the surprise was 100% of the sampled trees exhibited pre-existing health and/or structural conditions which served as the catalyst to the trees' failure. Of the sampled properties, there was not a single healthy tree which failed. As a result, many arborists, me included, believe most trees losses can be avoided with proper identification and treatment of pre-existing symptoms and regularly scheduled maintenance.
So now that we know tree failures can be avoided, what are the steps to take to protect trees and structures? Trees' conditions can be very difficult to diagnose. Even a hollow trunk can still support a full crown. This is when an arborist with experience in risk assessment is vital to proper diagnosis. The International Society of Arboriculture (ISA), of which I am a member, provides a list of certified arborists in your area to aid in selecting a tree service provider. Take the appropriate steps to reduce or eliminate potential tree hazards prior to the next storm. Use an arborist to assist you in this risk assessment process and with all your tree service needs. Next time I will discuss how trees can save and even make us money.
Originally printed in August 2009 in the Fort Walton Beach Chamber Official Publication