Tree133 Professional Arborists

05/03/2026

Sometimes trees need to be removed. This grand fir (Abies grandis) was killed by Rhizosphaera needle cast disease and could not be retained intact. Removing the crown and retaining a 12-foot snag enables us to mitigate the risk of a dead tree in the front garden while preserving some of the habitat value.

Rather than leaving a plain trunk that looks like a utility pole, we incorporated a coronet cut, perching stubs and a nesting cavity. This enables the snag to provide both aesthetic and ecological value for the client’s garden.

It’s super rewarding to working with clients who recognize the importance of habitat in urban landscape. Thank you, Janet, for this great opportunity to help.

04/22/2026

I love finding great examples of common pathogens. Pear trellis rust (Gymnosporangium sabinae) damages thousands of pear trees every year in Seattle. The pathogen is a fungus that requires two hosts. During the summer, it lives on the foliage of pear trees (Pyrus sp.) causing discoloration and unsightly growths on leaves. The fungus then over-winters on susceptible juniper plants (Juniperus sp.). In the spring, the fungus forms orange-brown gelatinous horns on juniper that are either super cool or kinda gross depending on your perspective. These are generally hard to see as they are hidden behind foliage. However, when Junipers are pruned severely, such as for sidewalk clearance, they are more easily visible.

04/18/2026

For many years, I’ve been meaning to remove and replace two declining plums at the front of my house. Finally got started last week by removing the old trees. Sad to see them go, but they’d been declining for years.

Today, we had the whole team out for a planting refresher, installing two Parrotia persica. For the sake of practice with root management, I selected two trees that had been in their pots way too long. Turns out they were balled/burlapped and then put into containers. Lots of good learning around root washing and pruning prior to installation.

It’ll be fun to see how the trees respond after we removed 60% or more of their root mass. It’s pretty late in the spring for such aggressive root pruning, but with attentive care they should be fine.

04/09/2026

Spring is here an so it the possibility of heat stress for trees. We naturally think of ambient temperature as the driving factor. Another is radiant heat, energetic that is absorbed and released by adjacent material like a driveway or retaining wall. A third source of heat stress is reflected heat from shiny surfaces. This is a common issue in urban environments around larger buildings or homes with large windows or other reflective surfaces. A good analogy is the sunburn you might get at the pool or lake, because the sun’s energy is reflected back at you from the water’s surface. Similar damage can happen to trees. Check out this video for a simple example encountered the other day.

03/29/2026

Somebody made a permanent decision for an old bigleaf maple (Acer macrophyllum) in Seattle. Don’t judge the “after” until you check out the “before” picture. For you arborists out there, what options would you offer the tree owner? How would you manage this tree?

Ps. No other details available. Use what you see.

03/25/2026

I’m often asked what it’s like to do tree care in the Pacific Northwest with all the rain we received. First off, it doesn’t rain any more in Seattle than in Chicago - where I grew up, and not known for rain - at about 40 inches per year. Since it’s sunny in Seattle for 90-120 days straight in the summer (shhh, don’t tell) all of our precipitation happens during fall, winter and spring. Take today, for instance. We had 0.5 inches of rain between 5am and 11am. It dumped buckets and then turned sunny. And yet, our team of amazing Certified Arborists was out working like every other day. Then we put every bit of gear into the drying room, so it’s ready for tomorrow.

After moving to the PNW, I quickly learned there are two choices during rainy weather. You can be wet and warm, or wet and cold. Just put the word dry entirely out of your mind. Embrace the suck, accept the feeling of being a human rice cooker for 7-8 hours each day, and get on with your work.

All year long, the amazing team at Tree133 Professional Arborists performs outstanding technical work in BIG trees no matter the weather. Y’all are awesome and I’m proud to have each of you in the Tree133 family.

Ps. Apologies to Landon and Ellis. They were makin’ it happen across town and not in this picture.

03/19/2026

The easiest way to fail the trunk of a tree is by torsional loading (twisting) just like opening a tube of crescent rolls. Wood is extremely strong in tension and compression. It resists bending. But rotational loads (torsion) can result in sudden delamination of wood fibers and stem failure, particularly in trees with a central column of dysfunctional wood.

This spruce did have some heartwood decay, but it didn’t bend or fold, which would be a compression failure. Instead, wind funneled between adjacent large trees caused it to twist and split apart, failing initially at the thinnest part of the shell wall. You’ll see the wound is lowest/longest toward the camera. However the top of the tree ended up across the street, more than 90 degrees from the initial point of failure.

In my experience, torsional failures are most common for trees with asymmetric wind loading due to crown structure or partial protection by other trees, resulting in more “pressure” on one side of the crown. This causes rotational loading that is often cyclical (on/off) and eventually splits the trunk.

02/27/2026

Recognizing the difference between a tree’s current structure and its natural form is essential to good management decisions.

02/12/2026

02/11/2026

Correctly managing trees requires more than a license, insurance and some tools. A strong understanding of tree biology and proper training are essential.

This image is a perfect example of what NOT to do, specifically tree injections done at five feet above grade, rather than at the root flare where dense, vascular tissue is best accessed. Sadly, we regularly see similar mistakes by companies without adequate knowledge or experience. And often, we must explain to a client their tree was damaged by a company that misrepresented their qualifications and gave them bad advice.

A professional arborist has a deep understanding of tree science, properly advises tree owners on appropriate management options, and implements the desired option with skill and integrity. That is the essence of caring for people… and their trees.

01/29/2026

Nature is full of incredible textures. A few favorites from the last year or so. And a funny picture of our Jack-dog. Happy Wednesday.