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Charles Reitz preparing to remove a palm tree from
an unsuitable position in a garden. |
Arboriculture is the
cultivation, management and study of individual trees, shrubs, vines and other
perennial woody plants. It is both a practice and a science.
The science of arboriculture
studies how these plants grow and respond to cultural practices and to their
environment. The practice of arboriculture includes cultural techniques such as
selection, planting, training, fertilization, pest and pathogen control,
pruning, shaping, and removal.
A person who practices or
studies arboriculture can be called an arborist
or an arboriculturist. A 'tree
surgeon' is more typically someone who is trained in the physical maintenance
and manipulation of trees and therefore more a part of the arboriculture
process rather than an arborist as such.
Risk management, legal issues
and aesthetic considerations have come to play prominent roles in the practice
of arboriculture.
Arboriculture is primarily
focused on individual woody plants and trees maintained for permanent landscape
and amenity purposes, usually in gardens, parks or other populated settings, by
arborists, for the enjoyment, protection, and benefit of human beings. It falls
under the general umbrella of horticulture.
There is, of course, a difference between urban tree management and forest management. In this blog we are primarily concerned with urban tree management as opposed to forest tree management, although forest management can and will be dealt with as well.
