Plant health care (PHC) is a comprehensive program aimed at managing the health, structure and appearance of plants within the landscape. It encompasses everything related to plant care, excluding removals and stump grinding. However, when we talk about PHC in practice, we typically refer to services that go beyond the realm of traditional tree work.

These services encompass fertilization, pesticide applications, soil remediation and various other interventions aimed at ensuring the well-being of trees and plants. The significance of PHC has gained recognition across the tree care industry, regardless of a company’s size.

PHC plays a pivotal role in sustaining trees in urban environments, where their existence often faces challenges. Surrounded by concrete, subjected to soil compaction or removal of a sizable portion of the root zone during construction and pruned to accommodate power lines or enhance views, trees in the city endure harsh conditions. It is as if they are giant potted plants left forgotten behind the garage.

PHC becomes essential to not only keep trees alive, but to help them thrive in these inhospitable settings. Clients often notice issues only when their trees are already struggling, leading to questions like, “Why are the leaves browning?” or “Could the driveway we installed be harming the tree?” Educating customers about the importance of PHC becomes a crucial task, creating an opportunity for forging trust and loyalty.

As much as we’d love to spend our days making all the trees sing in joy at our presence for no other fee than recognition, our reality involves paying bills, covering equipment expenses and saving for the occasional vacation. Plant health care requires knowledge and expertise, making it valuable. With the right know-how, a single technician can achieve nearly as much revenue as an entire crew in a similar time period, and often at higher profit margins. But beginning to offer PHC services does not have to start at that scale.

A journey into PHC

CoolWood Urban Forestry is a Charlotte, North Carolina-based company that began offering PHC services with little more than a five-gallon bucket and some systemic pest treatments.

“We view our business as an ongoing experiment,” says Dustin Counts, ISA Certified Arborist, production manager and owner/operator of CoolWood Urban Forestry. “We observe, hypothesize, implement changes and assess results.

“I noticed that small, owner-operated tree-service companies in our area seldom offered PHC services,” says Counts. “Most services were ad hoc, borrowing equipment and ordering products as needed. This made the offering clunky and limited its use. The main obstacle for these companies was the capital required to establish a dedicated PHC operation.”

With some encouragement from a peer in the industry, Counts decided to offer a curated list of PHC services without substantial upfront costs. “Over the past two years, we have experimented with various services and application methods, discovering strategies that work for us. As we continue to grow, we anticipate these services contributing significantly to our revenue,” says Counts.

Labor intensive or costly

“Our PHC services fall into two categories: Labor intensive with inexpensive products, and minimal labor with costly products,” Counts explains.

The first category involves soil remediation, which can be achieved using relatively cheap fertilizers, nearly free compost and cost-effective mulch. “The benefits of these materials are undeniable, but in our operation, they are labor intensive to deploy. We spread mulch by hand (and with a mini skid steer) and inject fertilizer and compost using battery-operated drills to perform vertical mulching.”

The second category includes growth regulators and pest control, which use expensive chemicals but require minimal effort per application, resulting in low overall costs, according to Counts.

“Focusing on systemics and applying as a basal drench or bark spray, our implementation prioritizes portability and efficiency, allowing us to offer them while on-site for other tree work or as an isolated visit in a light-duty vehicle.

“While our methods may not interest larger companies with dedicated PHC departments, we have found profitable ways to improve tree health care without complicating our overall operations,” says Counts. “Our most significant individual PHC-related cost has been a gallon of growth regulator. And while our PHC services so far only represent a little more than 10% of our annual revenue, we are seeing more than 50% net profit from these services.”

Expanding the horizon

Counts continues, “As momentum builds and customers appreciate our tree care efforts, we can reach critical mass, where a dedicated PHC technician and spray rig become financially viable. Specialization allows us to offer a broader range of services, and we may develop renewable, integrated pest management (IPM) programs.”

As any arborist knows, being on-site multiple times a year provides an opportunity to spot other tree work that may be needed. A well-trained technician can identify potential issues like fungal conks and recommend tree-risk assessments, leading to additional tree work and enhanced profitability.

With PHC expanding, you may need additional support, whether through dedicated dispatchers or managers, or through technicians in specific territories. As you continue to excel in the world of PHC, you will have the resources to address any challenges that come your way, ensuring your business thrives.

The value of a PHC offering

Plant health care is helpful to trees, desired by customers and profitable for businesses. If you recognize that we, as arborists, can do as much or more for the trees with our feet on the ground as we do aloft with a saw, then consider finding a strategic way to begin incorporating PHC services into your offerings.

That may mean starting a new department with a spray rig or a planting program or releasing beneficial insects. Or it may mean just keeping a couple of buckets and some growth regulator, fertilizer and pesticides on an empty shelf and sending them out when the crew goes to prune. Depending on the scale of your business, either of these might become a new profit center for you and your company.

Chris Diffley, ISA Board Certified Master Arborist (BCMA) and a registered consulting arborist (RCA), is plant-health-care operations manager in Pineville, North Carolina, with Arborscapes, a SavATree company. He is also Tree Risk Assessment Qualified (TRAQ) and a North Carolina licensed landscape contractor, and currently serves as vice president of the Southern Chapter of the ISA. Arborscapes, an accredited, 10-year TCIA member company, was purchased in November 2023 by SavATree, an accredited, 38-year TCIA member company headquartered in Bedford Hills, New York.