Services · Upper Arlington, Ohio
A one-man practice built around plant health care — keeping trees alive and thriving, not cutting them down. Here's everything I do, and how I do it.
Most of what kills a tree in Upper Arlington isn't a chainsaw decision — it's a pest that took hold two seasons before anyone noticed, a fungus that moved in through a mower wound, a root flare buried under a mulch volcano. Plant health care is the discipline of catching those things early and treating them precisely.
I scout on the season's actual heat, not the calendar — the same growing-degree-day model behind the live season calendar. When scale crawlers hatch, when borers fly, when a fungicide window opens: that's when I'm looking, because that's when intervention works.
I'm a licensed Ohio Commercial Pesticide Applicator (No. 175653) — and the license mostly teaches you when not to spray. Hands first: scale comes off with fingers and a careful eye where it can. Treatment happens when the evidence justifies it, and you'll see the reasoning written down in your tree's chart.
See what's active on UA trees right now →I walk the property and examine each tree — canopy, bark, root flare. Pest pressure, fungal fruiting, structural defects, decline. You get honest, written findings in your tree's chart, with recommendations you can act on or not. Sometimes the recommendation is "do nothing, and watch it." That's a good visit — honest evaluation, no upsell.
Ask about an assessment →Structural pruning, deadwood removal, and canopy shaping. Hand tools first — Silky saws, Felco pruners, blades kept sterile and sharp — with precise cuts at the collar so the tree can compartmentalize and close. I work with the tree's natural form, not against it. The Stihl comes out only when diameter requires it.
Ask about pruning →Surgical repair of lawnmower damage, bark tears, and prior improper cuts. Sterile razor work to shape ragged wounds so the tree can compartmentalize decay instead of inviting it in. More UA tree decline traces back to mowers, mulch, and planting depth than to anything an insect ever did — this is where a lot of it gets fixed.
Ask about wound care →Early structural pruning in the first ten years prevents the expensive problems at maturity — competing leaders, codominant stems, bark inclusion. Me on a ladder now, or a bucket-truck crew and an insurance claim in twenty years. The best money you will ever spend on a tree is while it's young.
Ask about young trees →Backyard peach, apple, and pear are a specialty — I learned this work managing a hundred-tree heritage apple orchard in Pennsylvania. Pruning for light and airflow, thinning for fruit size, and pest management timed to the insect, not the calendar. A neglected fruit tree is a pest nursery; a tended one is the best thing in your yard.
Ask about fruit trees →Lab-grade soil analysis — pH, texture, nutrients — plus pathogen identification when a disease needs a name before it gets a treatment. The wrong soil quietly starves the right tree, and a guess is not a diagnosis. Results and amendment recommendations land in your tree's chart.
Ask about soil testing →Hanging limbs, split leaders, debris on the roof. Call or text after a storm and I'll assess same day when I can — what's safe to leave, what needs a cut, and what genuinely needs a crew. Tree Steward clients are first in line.
Text about storm damage →When a big job needs a full crew, or the utility company wants to hack your canopy, you need someone in your corner who speaks the language. I'll walk the job with you, help you evaluate bids, and make sure the work gets spec'd right — proper cuts, no topping, no needless removals. I show up the morning of with Tremont Goodie Shop doughnuts for the guys.
Ask about advocacy →A tree you plant today is a fifty-year decision. I read the site, test the soil, match the species — native first — and plant at the right depth with the early training that makes a strong tree. It's enough of its own subject that it has its own page.
The right tree, the right place →The Tree Steward Program is the practice's backbone: quarterly visits timed to the seasons, an annual written health summary with photos, annual soil lab analysis, and priority scheduling. Problems get caught while they're still small.
No big removals, no bucket trucks, no stump grinding, no spray-everything contracts. Sometimes a large tree genuinely has to come down — and when a job truly needs a full crew, I'll say so and send you to people I trust. A handshake that's been good in this neighborhood for four generations, never a kickback.
I make my living keeping your trees alive, not cutting them down.
Text me what you're seeing — size, location, any concerns. I respond same day. No obligation.
Text David: (614) 312-2979 →