Let's Talk Trees and Turf 2011

 

In 2010, Tri-City Tree Doctor hosted an educational meeting called "Lets Talk Trees".  More information is available on the page entitled Quality Tree Care.

On October 19th, 2011, we held another educational meeting entitled "Lets Talk Trees and Turf".  Board Certified Master Arborist Dave Sutton presented "Diagnose it right, Treat it right" and Aaron Hathaway from MSU presented "Trees and Turf, Friends or Enemies".  The third hour was questions and answers and a couple of short presentations:  Joe Garpiel gave a brief discussion of current pesticide use regulations and Ray Jennings spoke about cabling and bracing to mitigate tree failure risks. 
 

A list of those attending will appear at the bottom of this page.

We had a total of 46 in attendance.  33 people got MDA credits, 7 arborists got ISA credits.  Those who need CGIP credits can apply for them by sending a description of the session to MNLA and we will confirm your attendance from our sign in sheets.

We were pleased with the attendance, but also disappointed.  We had a lot of people there, but so many more who were invited and did not attend.   We intend to make this October meeting a tradition.  It will be a chance to earn MDA, ISA and CGIP credits close to home and for a small fee that just covers the expenses.  We will try to get a guest speaker each year and we will tap some of the local professionals to contribute.

This year Joe Garpiel helped us a lot in the planning and Garpiel Landscaping was a corporate sponsor.  Tim Howe at John Deere helped to spread the word and he procured a professional sponsor- Dow Agrosciences. 

A long term goal is to establish a "Green Care Clearinghouse" as a service to consumers in the extended Tri-City Region.  This would be a central point where consumers could check to see which companies offer which services, what their credentials are, what their service area is, confirm their licensure and insurance, and learn about special expertise or equipment any specific company has or offers.  Now the consumer is at the mercy of advertising claims and word of mouth referrals which may not completely address the need for specific information.  We would like to hear from any companies that would like to participate.  We will be sending a mailing with a questionnaire and then will publish on my website the information that each company would like to share.  Ultimately, with some shared funding, we could have a dedicated website that would be referenced in some shared advertising.

 

Following is a list of those who did attend. In all, 46 people attended, including two company reps from John Deere landscapes and one from Arborjet. 8 earned certified arborist credit. 33 earned MDA pesticide certification credit. All showed interest in activities to promote quality tree and landscape care in the tri-cities, including additional sessions like this one. We have a list of most e-mails and will communicate regularly by e-mail.

 

Begick Nursery- Paul Begick, Mark Begick

Dow Gardens- Ray Jennings 

Weedman- Mark Kosberg

Kluck Nursery- Marty Royer, Rob Thomas, Ken Weiers, Scott Chobad

City of Midland- Bart Heil, Bob Allbee, Jeff Histed, Keith Nefe, Chris Hockaday, Jeff Varner

Village Green- Robert Walsh, Dale Furister, Dave Styn, Brian Sitts, Mike Eagle-- -

Audra Hynes

Larry's Lawn Care- Larry Hutter

Trudell's Northern Tree Care- Bill and Maureen Trudell

United Tree Service- John Sutton

Garpiel Landscaping- Joe Garpiel, Kevin Spagnuolo, Bill Flynn, Cody Sutter, Matt Garpiel

Mark Heinz Landscaping- Mark Heinz

Bohn Tree- Bob Rau, Keldon Bengry, Mark Ramsey

Essexville Public Schools- Dan Boukaert, Fred Keller

Twin Oaks Golf Course- Jeff Diechman

Abele Greenhouse- Robert Rohloff

Frankenmuth Insurance- Eugene Kociba

DeSander Landscaping- Mike DeSander

John Deere Landscapes- Tim and Nathan

Arborjet- Joe Aiken

Tri-City Tree Doctor- George Beebe, Jolly Richardson, Dave Sutton

 

INVITED BUT NOT ATTENDING: Most did not RSVP, so their interests are not known. We will send additional mailings to all. We will try to obtain e-mail addresses from those who are interested in a Quality Green Care Organization and further educational sessions.

 Bay Landscaping- 

Cohoon's Elevator/Garden Center

Advanced Arborist-

Kindy Tree Service-

Turfworkz- Joe Baker 

Reder Landscaping

Maple Hill

Servinski Sod

Ron Kutchey Landscaping

Scott's Lawn

Trugreen

Kable Landscaping

Custom Lawn Care

Tri-City Contracting

Tri-City Tree Specialist

Jack's Tree Service

Britt Heinz Tree Service

Designscapes

Allen Benjamin Tree Service

McDonalds Nursery