Trees, Trees, and More Trees

When we were shooting video segments a couple weeks ago, we did a whole day with Dr. Ed Gilman who is our resident tree expert. He's been working with trees a long time and is world renowned in the arboriculture field. We shot seven segments with him in a span of 6 hours. It was pretty impressive work.

Here, Dustin the PhD student, is climbing the tree. He's going to demonstrate co-dominant branching in trees and pruning safely while Dr. Gilman narrates from the ground. Bob shot a lot of b-roll of Dustin while he was climbing the tree. You can barely see Dustin up in the tree.


Dr. Gilman's watching Dustin to make sure he's following all the correct safety procedures.


Here Dustin has climbed out on the limb to make a pruning cut because of a mistletoe infection. As you can see, the branch is above Dr. Gilman's head so the cut shouldn't be made from the ground. It's a safety hazard. Dustin demonstrates how to prune with a tree saw.


Chris, the farm manager, is demonstrating use of the Air Spade. It's basically compressed air that they blow at the roots of the tree. This loosens the soil and reinvigorates trees that are starting to decline. A certified arborist should do this for you and it's really fun to see!


Chris is really going to town now. There was dust everywhere!



This shooting day was a lot of fun. I felt right at home since I grew up on an orange grove - all the trees at the tree unit are in a straight line! It was also very practical information for homeowners about trees. While a lot of stuff that was demonstrated needs to be done by certified arborists, the homeowner will now know some of the tricks of taking care of trees.