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Hiring an Arborist in 2026: Why It Matters & What They Do · Talking Trees with Davey Tree

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome to the Davey Tree Expert Company's podcast, Talking Trees.
• 0:05
  SPEAKER_00: I'm your host, Doug Oester.
• 0:06
  SPEAKER_00: Each week, our expert arborists share advice on seasonal tree care, how to make your trees thrive, arborists' favorite trees, and much, much more.
• 0:16
  SPEAKER_00: Tune in every Thursday to learn more because here at the Talking Trees Podcast, we know trees are the answer.
• 0:23
  SPEAKER_00: I'm joined again by Jason Parker.
• 0:25
  SPEAKER_00: He's the district manager for the Davy Tree Expert Company in Warminster PA.
• 0:29
  SPEAKER_00: That's near Philadelphia.
• 0:31
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome back to the show, Jason.
• 0:33
  SPEAKER_00: How are you?
• 0:33
  SPEAKER_00: Hey, good morning, Doug.
• 0:34
  SPEAKER_00: I'm doing good.
• 0:35
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks for having me.
• 0:36
  SPEAKER_00: Today's topic is how an arborist can help you in 2026.
• 0:41
  SPEAKER_00: When you hear that, what's the first thing that comes to mind?
• 0:44
  SPEAKER_01: Boy, the first thing that comes to mind to me is probably tree preservation.
• 0:49
  SPEAKER_01: There's a lot of people that work on trees, I'm not going to classify them necessarily, as arborists that uh might come out and might not give you the best advice, especially if you are trying to preserve a tree.
• 1:01
  SPEAKER_01: So I think an arborist, one of our primary duties is to focus on the tree preservation side of things and help you come up with a plan to get there, assuming that that's the best thing for uh the tree, the property, and your budget.
• 1:17
  SPEAKER_00: Let's discuss that because I think it's really important that people understand when an arborist, certified arborist from Davy, comes to the property, they're not trying to sell you something.
• 1:30
  SPEAKER_00: They're looking at this differently.
• 1:33
  SPEAKER_00: How does an arborist look at a property when they come there?
• 1:36
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, that's a great point, Doug.
• 1:38
  SPEAKER_01: Um, we really think of ourselves more as consultants.
• 1:42
  SPEAKER_01: Um, I mean, obviously we can provide services and we want to be able to help you with that as well.
• 1:46
  SPEAKER_01: And of course, we're a business, but um, we really want to give you the proper consult up front so that you can make good informed decisions, um, weighing all the options.
• 1:59
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and that's why we also insist on trying to have a face-to-face meeting with you.
• 2:04
  SPEAKER_01: Um, you know, if you just tell me to take down the tree in the back left corner of the property, uh, anybody could could give you a price to do that.
• 2:12
  SPEAKER_01: But we would rather consult with you, find out why it is that you're concerned, um, talk through that, and um again, come up with the best solution for you and your property.
• 2:22
  SPEAKER_00: And if those concerns are even warranted, uh, I think I'm sure you see that all the time, where somebody says to somebody, like a spouse or something, like, that tree doesn't look right, it's got to come down.
• 2:34
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, I'll I'll call Davey and have it come down, but it doesn't always have to come down.
• 2:38
  SPEAKER_00: That's why we have an arborist.
• 2:41
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, that's correct.
• 2:42
  SPEAKER_01: We run into that a ton.
• 2:43
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and again, that's why having that conversation really helps, you know, figure out what the concerns are.
• 2:50
  SPEAKER_01: Um, you know, one of the things that I always leave my customers with is the fact that, you know, I don't sleep here.
• 2:58
  SPEAKER_01: Um, you do.
• 2:59
  SPEAKER_01: So I I'm gonna give you the best advice I can, but ultimately the decision has to be yours as the homeowner.
• 3:06
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but let me at least give you all the information so you can make a good decision.
• 3:11
  SPEAKER_00: I know we're both on the same page with this, is that when we look at tree work that has been done improperly and continues to be done improperly, it drives you crazy because it drives me crazy.
• 3:23
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm I'm sad for the homeowners to see this, and and they're basically, in my opinion, they're getting taken because somebody's might be coming there once a year and topping or or just convincing people to need work.
• 3:38
  SPEAKER_00: A certified arborist is never going to do that.
• 3:42
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, that's correct.
• 3:43
  SPEAKER_01: No, I I feel the same way you do, Doug.
• 3:45
  SPEAKER_01: Um, it really is a shame, and I I feel like a lot of those people, like you said, uh they're sort of being taken, they aren't getting good advice.
• 3:54
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and and that goes for removals too.
• 3:57
  SPEAKER_01: You know, there's a lot of people that, like you said, they make the phone call um because they think that something needs to be removed, and if they, but maybe they don't want to take it down.
• 4:08
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and if they'd only gotten the proper um advice up front, um they might have been able to preserve it and had a beautiful tree in their backyard.
• 4:16
  SPEAKER_00: And I asked this question to Arboris all the time.
• 4:19
  SPEAKER_00: What's it like when I'm in the truck with you and you're driving by some of these properties and you see something just uh egregious uh in a in a yard?
• 4:29
  SPEAKER_01: Uh it's tough sometimes, especially when it's uh a really nice tree or was a really nice tree.
• 4:36
  SPEAKER_01: Um, though those are hard.
• 4:37
  SPEAKER_01: Um I do sometimes uh stop and take some pictures for my team so that I can say, hey, you know, this is what's going on, you know, not necessarily, I mean, definitely not what we would want to do for the tree, but um this is this is something that homeowners are hearing.
• 4:55
  SPEAKER_01: So if they come up to my team and have questions, you know, they can be informed as to you know the proper way to do things, understanding the advice that they might be getting from others and kind of get a little bit more comfortable around how do you deal with that.
• 5:11
  SPEAKER_01: You know, oh well, my neighbor just had the tree cut in half, and look, it's putting out, you know, new growth, it's gonna be fine.
• 5:17
  SPEAKER_01: Well, maybe short term, it's not gonna die, but ultimately decay's gonna set in.
• 5:23
  SPEAKER_01: Here's gonna be the problems.
• 5:24
  SPEAKER_01: You've made that tree actually less safe when your goal was to make it more safe.
• 5:29
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so I I think those conversations go a long way.
• 5:32
  SPEAKER_01: And sometimes a picture makes it that much easier to just kind of get into that with my team.
• 5:37
  SPEAKER_00: I think there's a sense of relief when you when you have an arborist, like in my case, when I have an arborist for a decade, maybe longer, that visits the property once or twice a year and and knows the property.
• 5:54
  SPEAKER_00: I'm wondering for you, like what percentage are guys like me who have the arborist coming every year, twice a year, or how many of the new are just like new customers, like the first-time customer?
• 6:09
  SPEAKER_01: Well, we get a pretty good mix.
• 6:11
  SPEAKER_01: I'd like to think that uh the majority of our customers are repeat uh customers um because we've come up with a plan and we know you know we get them on a pruning cycle where we're out there every five years and we fertilize, you know, once a year and um do that.
• 6:27
  SPEAKER_01: But one of the times we run into a lot of new customers is after a storm, um either because there was damage on the property or because they saw a friend, a neighbor, a relative who had damage on their property and now they're concerned about their trees.
• 6:44
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so those are hopefully um good opportunities to start some productive conversations around, well, yeah, we can we can maybe not prevent all storm damage, but significantly reduce the likelihood of damage by doing these couple of steps to properly maintain your trees.
• 7:03
  SPEAKER_00: And I think it's better to already have an arborist in hand, so to speak, because when an event happens, they know you, they know your property, they they know where the tree is, and you're gonna get the tree taken care of quicker.
• 7:20
  SPEAKER_01: That's absolutely true.
• 7:21
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, obviously, in those scenarios, we want to take care and help as many people as we possibly can, uh, but our commitment is certainly to our returning customers first, um, you know, because we have to prioritize.
• 7:33
  SPEAKER_01: Um, you know, we're gonna deal with emergency stuff, um, and then our customers um, you know, certainly are on the top of that list.
• 7:40
  SPEAKER_00: As a homeowner, when we do have an event predicted, in my case, I say it all the time: I live in this oak forest.
• 7:49
  SPEAKER_00: I can't stand it when we get those crazy storms.
• 7:55
  SPEAKER_00: How do you look at it from a professional standpoint when you're looking at this on its way?
• 8:00
  SPEAKER_00: Everyone's warning you that it's a big thunderstorm or whatever it might be, especially when we get to the summer.
• 8:06
  SPEAKER_00: How do you look at it?
• 8:08
  SPEAKER_00: I'm looking at it as like, oh no, I hope cross my fingers, let's get through this.
• 8:13
  SPEAKER_00: You're gonna have a lot of work to do uh when a storm rolls through.
• 8:18
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, um, everybody kind of thinks that as an arborist, you love storms because uh you're generating, you know, um money.
• 8:27
  SPEAKER_01: Um and while they certainly can help with that, ultimately, no, we don't love storms.
• 8:35
  SPEAKER_01: Um, it does damage to trees, sometimes um irreparable damage.
• 8:39
  SPEAKER_01: And it's really unfortunate when it's um trees that you've cared for for a long time that you know are the homeowner's favorite.
• 8:46
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but it also creates a lot of anxiety, you know, people making those quick decisions, like, oh my gosh, I got to take down all the trees on my property because I saw what happened in the neighborhood next to me.
• 8:56
  SPEAKER_01: And that's not the kind of stuff, you know, that we want to promote.
• 9:00
  SPEAKER_01: Again, we'd rather have that consultation, but we know there's a lot of people out there that will take advantage of the situation for lack of a better way of putting it.
• 9:09
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and go, okay, no problem.
• 9:11
  SPEAKER_01: We can come down, take all your trees down next Tuesday, Mrs.
• 9:14
  SPEAKER_01: Jones.
• 9:14
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and that might be before I have a chance to get out there and say, well, do you really want to take these down or do you just want them to be safe?
• 9:22
  SPEAKER_01: Um so yeah, I don't love it.
• 9:24
  SPEAKER_01: Um it's it's stressful on the crews, too.
• 9:27
  SPEAKER_01: You know, they're running around like crazy, there's tons of safety concerns.
• 9:32
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so in general, a storm is is not great for us.
• 9:35
  SPEAKER_01: Good stuff can come out of it if it does get people who maybe weren't thinking about their trees before and now they have a reason to think about them.
• 9:44
  SPEAKER_01: Um, again, as long as they're able to sit down and have a good consult with us.
• 9:49
  SPEAKER_00: During that consult, is there a lot of give and take, or is does the science of doing what needs to be done right on the tree prevail?
• 10:00
  SPEAKER_01: Um 99% of the time, what's right for the tree is going to be what uh prevails.
• 10:07
  SPEAKER_01: Um, there's a little bit of wiggle room here and there with certain things, you know, it might not be the best to take off that 10-inch limb that leans out um over the pro or over the house.
• 10:19
  SPEAKER_01: Might be better to put a cable in it.
• 10:21
  SPEAKER_01: But if you really can't get past that with a customer, it's an acceptable alternative, maybe to do something like that.
• 10:28
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and that's where, again, having that face-to-face consult so we can hear the concerns from the the customer um really allow us to come up with the best plan.
• 10:39
  SPEAKER_00: Well, the thing I like about it is I have an arborist, again, I've worked with for a long time.
• 10:44
  SPEAKER_00: And with oak wilt coming through this forest, I know that I'm going to have to remove two or three trees a year.
• 10:53
  SPEAKER_00: And my wiggle room is like, how much of this tree can I leave and be okay and not spread the disease but save some money?
• 11:03
  SPEAKER_00: And so we always have that back and forth.
• 11:06
  SPEAKER_00: Like, and the science of it is yes, you want to remove these pieces that are left, but you could leave a stag, which is just a kind of a big stump.
• 11:15
  SPEAKER_00: And I like that part.
• 11:17
  SPEAKER_00: I like being able to, and again, the arborist knows that I am thinking that way because I've got so much work to be done, and we're just on the same page that way because we know each other.
• 11:29
  SPEAKER_00: And again, I I know that you have these relationships with lots of clients, and talk a little bit about that, about how each client is a little bit different and getting to know them is an important part of this.
• 11:41
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, you you bring up a really great um point, Doug.
• 11:44
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, a lot of people are very uh uncomfortable talking about budget, um, but honestly, that's a huge piece.
• 11:52
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, like you said, you live in an oak forest, so you you know you're gonna have a bunch of work to do.
• 11:58
  SPEAKER_01: You have to work to your budget, and having uh real conversations with your arborist about that, I think are really important.
• 12:06
  SPEAKER_01: Um we're again, we we prefer to think of ourselves more as consultants than salespeople because our goal is not to come out there and sell you the most we possibly can every single time.
• 12:18
  SPEAKER_01: We want to do what's right for you and what's right for your trees and your property.
• 12:22
  SPEAKER_01: And if the budget is$1,000, then let's let's get that um you know up front so that we know what we're working towards.
• 12:29
  SPEAKER_01: Uh it doesn't mean that I'm gonna try and spend every penny that you're telling me you have in the budget, um, but it's a real conversation.
• 12:38
  SPEAKER_01: And and a lot of people and you know, sales artists when they start out aren't always super comfortable in getting to that um piece with their customers.
• 12:49
  SPEAKER_01: But the better your relationship, the better you get to know them, um the easier those conversations become.
• 12:54
  SPEAKER_01: Um and then you're really getting somewhere real.
• 12:57
  SPEAKER_01: You know, I I the last thing I want to do to any of my customers is spend, you know, an hour putting together a proposal for them, um, hand it to them, it's ten thousand dollars, they had a thousand dollar budget.
• 13:09
  SPEAKER_01: That's the end of the conversation.
• 13:11
  SPEAKER_01: You know, that doesn't do anybody any good.
• 13:13
  SPEAKER_00: Well, what I like is when Vince, who's who does the work here, he'll give me uh an estimate by just driving to the bottom of the driveway.
• 13:24
  SPEAKER_00: That's how I it comes that quick.
• 13:27
  SPEAKER_00: And even though he understands that I want to do this as cheaply as possible, I know he will not skimp on the safety part and and what needs to be done.
• 13:39
  SPEAKER_00: He'll just tell me straight out, like, no, that has to come out.
• 13:43
  SPEAKER_00: That this part has has to be done for for the safety of the property, for the safety of there's a target, whatever it might be.
• 13:51
  SPEAKER_00: And this is the I wouldn't even say back and forth, but it's the assurance, I guess, is what I'm saying, that I know he's gonna he's gonna do what needs to be done, but I can still I can still save some money by leaving a little bit or by moving the wood myself or whatever it might be.
• 14:09
  SPEAKER_00: I like that openness to to uh making the uh getting the work done.
• 14:16
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, absolutely.
• 14:17
  SPEAKER_01: I I've heard it said uh a bunch of times that um good work isn't cheap and cheap work isn't good.
• 14:24
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and there there definitely is something to that.
• 14:26
  SPEAKER_01: But again, having those conversations, you know, yeah, leaving the wood is going to save you some money.
• 14:32
  SPEAKER_01: Um, you know, it's less for us to dispose of, it's less for us to um handle.
• 14:37
  SPEAKER_01: Um so yeah, there are ways that that you can work, and I and that's where that relationship piece really, really comes in.
• 14:44
  SPEAKER_01: So um, yeah, I can't stress that enough.
• 14:46
  SPEAKER_01: Well, you know, sometimes I get out to a customer's property and uh they can't even remember the name of the last person that they used on their trees, and it's like uh, well, that's that's not what we want to do.
• 14:58
  SPEAKER_01: You know, we want to we want to start a relationship here and keep building off of it.
• 15:03
  SPEAKER_00: But from experience, don't just assume that you're that you might be saving a ton of money by leaving that wood.
• 15:11
  SPEAKER_00: Sometimes, wherever the wood is, just get it bid both ways, and that's what I like too.
• 15:16
  SPEAKER_00: Like, well, how much, you know, because my wife is just like, I don't want more wood laying around here that's in the trails, and so I just I ask him, I ask, Vince, give it to me both ways.
• 15:27
  SPEAKER_00: And it, you know, sometimes it can be worth it, just like, okay, good, take the wood.
• 15:30
  SPEAKER_00: You know, they've got one of those big giant trucks, and they can just load it up in there big bigger pieces than you could possibly imagine could be loaded up into a truck.
• 15:40
  SPEAKER_00: And so get it.
• 15:42
  SPEAKER_00: Just I just recommend getting it done both ways, so you know, and Vince is very happy to do it both ways.
• 15:49
  SPEAKER_00: He he wants me to be happy.
• 15:51
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, absolutely.
• 15:52
  SPEAKER_01: And that's uh again, you bring up another good point.
• 15:55
  SPEAKER_01: We get phone calls all the time.
• 15:57
  SPEAKER_01: You know, I've got one tree to take down, it's 60 feet tall.
• 16:00
  SPEAKER_01: How much?
• 16:01
  SPEAKER_01: And we're like, well, no, there's too many factors in that.
• 16:04
  SPEAKER_01: You know, is it right next to the driveway, or is it, you know, 500 feet in your backyard past, you know, the pond and the you know, fence and everything else.
• 16:15
  SPEAKER_01: So there are a lot of factors.
• 16:17
  SPEAKER_01: That's why someone needs to come to the property to accurately give you a number.
• 16:21
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and yeah, they'll, you know, can let you know maybe if we're bringing a crane in already for something, um, it is, you know, just as cheap, um, if not cheaper, to actually get rid of the lumber because you're right there, you take it in, like you said, 20-foot lengths instead of cutting it up into 18-inch lengths, and it's a it saves a lot of labor.
• 16:45
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I want it cut up for firewood.
• 16:48
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah.
• 16:49
  SPEAKER_01: People don't always understand that that takes a lot more time than than you know taking a 20-foot pick and just putting it on the back of a truck.
• 16:56
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, especially for those big giant pieces.
• 17:00
  SPEAKER_00: Let's talk a little bit about safety, and especially safety for homeowners.
• 17:05
  SPEAKER_00: I am not using a chainsaw anymore because I do not have the right safety gear, and I've learned about that since I've been working with Davy.
• 17:15
  SPEAKER_00: The chaps, the eye protection, the ear protection, the hard hat, uh, chainsaws can be really dangerous.
• 17:23
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, if you're not a professional, um, things can go south very quickly.
• 17:28
  SPEAKER_01: Um the um number of homeowners that I've seen, you know, up on ladders doing things that just absolutely even a professional shouldn't do, um, you know, it makes me makes me nervous.
• 17:42
  SPEAKER_01: For some reason, I don't I don't quite know why.
• 17:46
  SPEAKER_01: You know, nobody, most people anyway, don't try and put on a new roof on their house, but they'll try to trim their own trees.
• 17:53
  SPEAKER_01: I'm not I'm not sure why our industry um, you know, maybe gives the false impression that tree work is easy and that uh any anybody can do it.
• 18:02
  SPEAKER_01: Um it's not, um, and certainly doing it safely requires a lot of training, a lot of specialized equipment.
• 18:08
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and that is certainly most important to us.
• 18:11
  SPEAKER_01: Um, getting back to the price side of things, a lot of times the reason that you're getting maybe a cheaper price from somebody else is because they don't have the equipment, they don't have the experience, they don't have the training.
• 18:23
  SPEAKER_01: And I think the other thing that's important is um to understand that while a professional can make things look very easy, very quick, very efficient, um, it's the 25 years of training that they have that has gotten them to the point where they can do that job in 30 minutes.
• 18:43
  SPEAKER_01: Um, you know, and that is often overlooked.
• 18:46
  SPEAKER_01: You're like, oh, well, you're only here for 30 minutes.
• 18:48
  SPEAKER_01: Well, yes, but I've got 25 years of training that got me to that point.
• 18:53
  SPEAKER_00: Well, back to the price side again.
• 18:57
  SPEAKER_00: The estimate, I'm never charged more than the estimate, and usually it comes in under budget, which is like such a good feeling, you know.
• 19:08
  SPEAKER_00: That's a that's that's why Vince is so smart, I guess.
• 19:11
  SPEAKER_00: You know, he really looks at it carefully, which all arborists do.
• 19:17
  SPEAKER_00: And they ne you know, you would never want to go to a property, bid it, and then say, oh my gosh, it's a thousand dollars more.
• 19:25
  SPEAKER_00: You you don't want that to happen.
• 19:27
  SPEAKER_00: And I understand if it's the same same exact thing as what he thought it would be, which happens sometimes, but more often than not, as much as they're here, it comes in under the under the uh under the estimate.
• 19:41
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, that's always a great thing.
• 19:43
  SPEAKER_01: And it's just kind of good advice for homeowners in general.
• 19:46
  SPEAKER_01: Um, you know, when you have professionals out at your property, you're going to get a written contract that spells everything out that is going to be signed by your arborist and you're gonna sign it.
• 19:58
  SPEAKER_01: And that for a homeowner should be not only peace of mind, but that's that's your level of protection.
• 20:04
  SPEAKER_01: Um, the amount of people that, I mean, even just friends of mine that will have contractors do work on their property either inside or outside of the home without a signed contract, I'm like, I just don't understand how they're comfortable with that.
• 20:17
  SPEAKER_01: Um, you know, I certainly am not, um, regardless of what it is I'm getting done.
• 20:22
  SPEAKER_01: I want to know what it's gonna cost me up front.
• 20:24
  SPEAKER_01: Um, now, if someone comes back to me and there was something unforeseen, okay, you know, then we can have that discussion.
• 20:31
  SPEAKER_01: But um more often than not, um cheaper contractors come in with that cheap price, and when you get the bill, it's not what was quoted.
• 20:41
  SPEAKER_01: And that's not how business should be performed.
• 20:44
  SPEAKER_01: Um so yeah, just in general, I think that's good advice for homeowners.
• 20:48
  SPEAKER_00: And you know, you brought something up there that kind of led me to a question.
• 20:53
  SPEAKER_00: Do you get a lot of people from the neighborhood, from people that you bump into, people that know what you do, asking for advice, like like a doctor?
• 21:01
  SPEAKER_00: Like, are you at the party?
• 21:02
  SPEAKER_00: Is the doctor's first and the tree guy's second?
• 21:05
  SPEAKER_01: So I it's funny uh you mentioned that because I just had your I just had my uh annual physical for my health insurance, and uh the doctor um owns a vineyard over in New Jersey, um, and he's very concerned about spotted lantern fly.
• 21:19
  SPEAKER_01: And so every year I go in for my physical, and every year he asks me for advice on the lanternfly, and is there anything else that he needs to worry about?
• 21:27
  SPEAKER_01: You know, because he's concerned about his vineyard.
• 21:30
  SPEAKER_01: So um, yes, get get hit up for that all the time.
• 21:32
  SPEAKER_01: Um, certainly happy to do it.
• 21:34
  SPEAKER_01: I I love what I do, so it's not a big deal to talk about my profession.
• 21:38
  SPEAKER_00: Well, this leads us a little bit of away from our topic, but I was wondering how is the lanternfly out in the Philadelphia area?
• 21:46
  SPEAKER_00: Where are you guys?
• 21:48
  SPEAKER_01: Um in Philadelphia, it's um significantly decreased from what we were seeing three, four years ago.
• 21:54
  SPEAKER_01: Um I don't want to say it's non existent, um, and the places that it is still.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_01: An issue.
• 22:01
  SPEAKER_01: It's like pockets that are still kind of intense.
• 22:04
  SPEAKER_01: We have seen it more moving more towards the actual center of Philadelphia, whereas it was kind of on the outskirts before.
• 22:14
  SPEAKER_01: And the suburbs really, again, not that it's non-existent, but it's much less of an issue for sure.
• 22:20
  SPEAKER_00: And it's an issue with grapes.
• 22:22
  SPEAKER_00: That's one of the things that lanternfly just gravitate to, from what I've learned, is just that there's certain plants, and the way that the uh liquid comes out of that plant, that's what the lanternfly wants.
• 22:36
  SPEAKER_00: And so I can understand how the doctor is like very concerned for a vineyard.
• 22:42
  SPEAKER_00: But do they do that much damage on grapes?
• 22:46
  SPEAKER_00: Is it is it is a damage where it'd be like you would not be able to harvest?
• 22:50
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, it can be pretty significant.
• 22:53
  SPEAKER_01: Um, certainly when yeah, it's it's gonna impact the the harvest.
• 22:58
  SPEAKER_01: Um, again, kind of in the area that I am outside of Philadelphia, we don't have a ton of um vineyards, so I haven't seen much of that firsthand.
• 23:06
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but knowing just the biology of how the plants work, yeah, it would it would certainly impact it.
• 23:12
  SPEAKER_01: You know, um flowering and fruiting are the first thing that plants under distress kind of stop doing um because they're not necessary.
• 23:21
  SPEAKER_01: So um that's where it kind of tries to uh preserve some of its energy if it's feeling stressed.
• 23:26
  SPEAKER_00: Isn't that kind of fun that when you do have something like that, like a same time next year uh relationship where you know you know you're gonna talk to them about whatever it might be uh related to trees?
• 23:41
  SPEAKER_00: I think that's kind of cool.
• 23:42
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, absolutely.
• 23:43
  SPEAKER_01: And what we typically will do with our regular customers is um we get to the end of the season, we start talking about services that need to be performed on an annual basis.
• 23:53
  SPEAKER_01: That's when we tend to do our property visits.
• 23:55
  SPEAKER_01: So that kind of goes from August through, you know, the holidays.
• 24:00
  SPEAKER_01: And um, you know, that's our opportunity to get out there.
• 24:03
  SPEAKER_01: And our customers have come to expect that.
• 24:05
  SPEAKER_01: You know, they know that we're gonna be out there.
• 24:07
  SPEAKER_01: We want to see how things went through the season, see what we still need to do, or if there's anything new that we should be um addressing.
• 24:14
  SPEAKER_01: And uh, so yeah, they really look forward to that.
• 24:17
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and yeah, it's just something that they come to expect.
• 24:21
  SPEAKER_00: Well, we've talked about it before, um, but before I let you go, I just wanted you to discuss a little bit about that relationship with the clients, uh, especially the long-term relationships and and the good part of that and what you get out of it.
• 24:37
  SPEAKER_01: Um someone told me at one point in in my career that um, you know, the their best customer was also their best friend.
• 24:47
  SPEAKER_01: And, you know, as you know, I get a little bit older, I start to think about that more.
• 24:52
  SPEAKER_01: I want to do business with more of my friends, you know, whatever industry it is that they're in.
• 24:57
  SPEAKER_01: So when I need something, I'm I'm going to friends.
• 25:01
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so uh not that every relationship is gonna be like that with a customer, um, but certainly the more comfortable people feel around you, um, you know, they want to see you do well, you want to see their property taken care of well, and it's a good uh mutual relationship, I think, that that works both ways.
• 25:20
  SPEAKER_00: Well, in a way, I'm kind of sad when I have to call Vince, but uh in another way, I'm also relieved that I have Vince to make sure everything's right.
• 25:30
  SPEAKER_00: Jason, thanks so much for your time.
• 25:32
  SPEAKER_00: As always, uh always learn something and uh appreciate all the great information.
• 25:38
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks again for being on the show.
• 25:40
  SPEAKER_00: Not a problem, Doug.
• 25:41
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you.
• 25:42
  SPEAKER_00: Tune in every Thursday to the Talking Trees Podcast from the Dave Tree Expert Company.
• 25:47
  SPEAKER_00: I'm your host, Doug Oester, and I'll tell you what, we'd love to hear from you.
• 25:50
  SPEAKER_00: And there's a couple of different ways to get in touch with us.
• 25:54
  SPEAKER_00: Send us an email to podcasts at Deby.com.
• 25:58
  SPEAKER_00: That's P-O-D-C-A-S-T-S at d-a-b-e-y.com.
• 26:03
  SPEAKER_00: You can also click the link at the end of our show notes to text us a fan mail message.
• 26:08
  SPEAKER_00: Your ideas could be on a future episode.
• 26:12
  SPEAKER_00: And as always, we'd like to remind you on the Talking Trees podcast.
• 26:16
  SPEAKER_00: Trees are the answer.