From the Field

What will my memorial tree be? It’s a question that has been on my mind more often after completing an often-overlooked but necessary project: cataloging dedicated campus trees. As a world-class arboretum, the University of Maryland Arboretum & Botanical Garden has a collection of 15,000 trees and woody plants, with many of those being dedicated […]

I was on the Arborists Online Facebook page a while ago and came across postings from a couple of young arborists. They had just received their copies of Dr. Alex Shigo’s books, A New Tree Biology and Modern Arboriculture. I could sense the excitement in their posts, and it brought back a flood of memories […]

I have lived the life of an athlete. I have lived for the climb. I am a climber. When I started my training in the early ’70s with my father, he told me that as long as I could climb a tree, I’d have a job. Inevitably, age and injuries have caught up with me. […]

June 2021 marked the 50th anniversary of my entry into the profession of arboriculture as an adult (next year, 2022, will be the 100th anniversary of my late father’s founding of M. Blair Tree Experts). So what better way to celebrate than to get hit with the strongest storm in decades at my home? In […]

Everyone has their special setup in his or her truck toolbox, often full of sometimes perplexing items. For example, I find that many landscapers have a treasured, handmade weeding or clearing tool they’ve held onto in their family for generations (these are, without exception, always scary looking). In that same theme, here is my list […]