Ursa Minor Tree Care

10/31/2023

The abrupt change in temperature got you down? We have firewood!

Costs are $115 face cord, $300 full cord. This includes delivery to our normal service area (Brown Deer, Bayside, Mequon, Fox Point, Whitefish Bay, Glendale, Shorewood, and the east side of Milwaukee). We can deliver to anywhere in the Milwaukee metro area so contact us for costs if you’re outside the normal range.

Stay warm!

09/22/2023

I definitely wasn’t expecting to end up on the news this weekend but it’s always fun to talk about trees and tree climbing!

Professional tree climbers from all over the state are meeting in Cedarburg for the Wisconsin Tree Climbing Championship.

09/19/2023

I (Johanna) will be competing at the Wisconsin Arborist Association’s tree climbing competition this weekend at Cedar Creek Park in Cedarburg! This is a really fun event for me, and something I look forward to every year. Competitors will have to demonstrate skills in several different areas, from setting lines to moving from one of a large tree canopy to the other.

The event is open to the public - come on by and watch some very talented humans do crazy things in trees!

Cedar Creek Park, Cedarburg, WI N52W5882 Portland Rd, Cedarburg, WI 53012 Friday will be educational seminars, gear check and the ascent event. Saturday will be the other 4 preliminary events…

08/17/2023

Last week, I (Johanna) had the privilege of competing in the ISA International Tree Climbing competition, representing the state of Wisconsin. The competition took place in Albuquerque and I got to hang out with some very skilled and knowledgeable humans, climb some challenging trees, and enjoy the desert landscapes. I placed 26 out of 35 female competitors - an improvement over last year but still a motivator to hone in my climbing skills and do better at future competitions. It was a fun adventure! Looking forward to the Wisconsin competition in September!

06/17/2023

I’m celebrating Father’s Day with my dad, Joseph by hanging out at the Fond du Lac Farmers market selling shiitakes and wine caps at the Cup O' Joe's booth!

We grew the shiitakes on oak logs harvested from a job site and the wine caps provide a continual harvest all summer in my mulched garden beds.

06/16/2023

Grocery costs got you down? Want to explore growing your own food but also don’t want to fill your yard with raised garden beds?

At Ursa Minor, we are passionate about applying permaculture techniques to create beautiful AND beneficial landscapes. Even in a smaller yard, there are many options for integrating perennial food systems. Though there’s nothing wrong with an old fashioned vegetable garden, we can help put together a plan for a miniature food forest or micro orchard that will get you and your family on track to have recurring harvests with relatively little maintenance. In addition to harvesting your own tomatoes, you can have access to gourmet mushrooms, homegrown peaches, fiddlehead ferns, Corneliancherries, and beneficial elderberries. We offer designs, installations, and consultations, and are still accepting planting projects for the 2023 growing season

Schedule an estimate through our website, ursaminortreecare.com.

05/24/2023

It’s been a pretty exciting month around here!

In 2022, we had an overwhelming amount of inquiries and referrals, far more than I anticipated when I hired Jake as my first full time employee. Many of you probably recall we were scheduled out for close to 2 months for most of the year, which is a good problem to have to deal with!

Because sustainability is an all-encompassing concept, I knew that going into this busy season it simply wasn’t going to be sustainable to operate at this pace with only two full time production employees, one of whom (me) is also doing the administrative side of the business. Luckily, our part time employee Alison asked to come on full time for the summer! Alison has been a huge help over the past two years as her schedule has allowed, and I couldn’t have been happier to have her around more often. As a woman owned and operated company, being able to train another female in many of the skills that have helped me become a more confident human is exciting.

We also brought on a fourth employee for the summer, Asher. He’s studying environmental science at UWM and brings a lot of enthusiasm and curiosity to the team. Both Asher and Alison started full time this week. I’m confident that having such a stellar crew will help Ursa Minor better service our clients.

Because I take training and safety very seriously, my goal is to offer as many opportunities as I can to train our summer staff in all aspects of the business, from tree biology and safe working practices to producing biochar to growing mushrooms. While tree and landscape work are often the bulk of what Ursa Minor does, our ultimate goal is to help everyone, our employees included, have a better understanding and appreciation for the natural world around us.

03/24/2023

Happy Friday from the crew, don’t forget your flannels!

03/09/2023

1 Likes, 0 Comments - Ursa Minor Tree Care () on Instagram

09/06/2022

Hi everyone! Some exciting news for this upcoming week…I (Johanna) will be competing at the International Tree Climbing Competition in Copenhagen, Denmark. I will be the female representative from the Wisconsin Arborist Association. This opportunity came as a result of me placing first waaaayyyyy back in the 2019 Wisconsin Tree Climbing Competition. This is the first international competition that's been held since then due to Covid restrictions, so this trip has been a long time coming!

Tree climbers are some of the nerdiest people you’ll ever talk to when it comes to gear and climbing techniques. In addition to the fun of the competition, I’m looking forward to learning from my fellow climbers from all over the world and spending time with other tree care experts.

While in Denmark, I will be limiting phone usage to family emergencies only. I will be checking email on a daily basis in the evenings local time, and will respond to anything urgent. You can still book estimates through the scheduling calendar. If you have a storm-related emergency, I would recommend contacting Lake Forest Tree Service at (414) 690-1463. Peter, the owner/operator, has supported Ursa Minor in the past as a sub contractor. You’ll be in good hands if anything comes up while I’m gone.

Jake and I will be back in the field Tuesday, September 13. Fall is one of the best times of the year for outdoor work, and we’re looking forward to resuming our planting schedule once the temperatures cool down consistently.

07/11/2022

Hello everyone, we hope you’re having a great summer and spending lots of time outdoors!

Thank you to everyone who’s had us at your homes thus far, and also those of you who have us booked for work in the future. We’re aware that Ursa Minor takes a different approach by focusing on tree preservation, sustainability, and client education, as well as female representation in the tree care industry. So far this year, we’ve had multiple families ask to have the logs and wood chips left on site to build garden beds, installed planting designs that focus on edible and beneficial species, and performed preservation work on several mature trees. When you choose to work with us, you are supporting our values and goals.

We wanted to make you aware that we are now completely booked for the remainder of the summer. All new accepted bids will be scheduled for late September/early October. We are also now opening our calendar for discounted winter work (December - March). We will resume planting mid-fall as well. In the meantime, Johanna is performing site visits 1-2 evenings a week.

We appreciate all the referrals to your friends and neighbors. 2022 has brought on unprecedented demand for tree work, especially for such a small company. Like many reputable tree and landscape operations, we are in the middle of our busiest time of year. We are doing our best to return calls and emails within 48 hours, and to get bids turned around within 7 days of Johanna’s initial visit while still working through our summer backlog and allowing ourselves adequate time to rest and be with our own families. Thank you for your patience!