Frequently Asked Questions About Certified Arborist Services

At Rick’s Plant Health Care, we are proud to provide a complete range of personalized ecological plant and tree care services throughout Montgomery County, including Collegeville. Call 610-840-2655 to learn more or schedule your free estimate.

A Certified Arborist is not the same as a tree service or tree trimmer. When you hire a Certified Arborist, you know you’re getting the best possible tree care for your property and landscape. Certified Arborists must meet strict standards, including passing a rigorous exam, and participate in ongoing continuing education in order to stay up-to-date on the latest science in tree health care and insect and disease management. In other words, arborists are the tree doctors in tree care.

Unless a landscaping company employs Certified Arborists, they are not giving you the same level of service. They simply don’t have the experience or expertise to understand the complexities of tree care. Taking care of trees is about so much more than just trimming branches, pruning shrubs and fertilization.

Arborists perform many functions relating to the health and management of trees and shrubs. We perform residential tree inspections, provide education to our clients, offer treatments to maintain tree health, and also treat insect infestation and disease to save trees from needing to be removed from your property.

Every tree has its own unique characteristics, which is why hiring a Certified Arborist is important. An arborist examines the canopy, leaf, twigs, bark, root collar, and soil to determine if a tree is healthy and, if it is not, what steps can be taken to help it thrive.

In many cases, a Certified Arborist can put together a treatment plan to save a diseased tree, but this depends upon the severity of the disease and how long the tree has been in poor health. Some types of problems, like Emerald Ash Borer infestation, can be extremely aggressive and must be treated in their earliest stages.

Yes, trees do their best when they receive ongoing maintenance. With deep root feeding, strategic tree trimming, and other services as needed, you’ll notice that your tree canopies are fuller and the leaves are a deeper green, with no spots, discoloration, or yellow edges.

The answer to this question depends upon the disease, but typically the solution is either soil injections, which direct a treatment to the roots of a tree, or trunk injection, which injects a treatment into the vascular tissue. 

We’ve found that the best treatment for Emerald Ash Borer infestation is trunk injections. These injections provide two years of protection and they eliminate the larvae that feed on the inside of the tree.

Spotted Lanternflies cause sap to ooze from trees, which can lead to leaves wilting, curling, and dying back. They also leave behind a sticky substance called honeydew that encourages the growth of black sooty mold. This damage leaves trees in a compromised state, making them susceptible to other diseases and infestations. For small trees, we use a bark spray to eliminate Spotted Lanterflies. On larger trees, we employ a trunk Injection method to deliver Dinotefuran, a highly effective insecticide. When injected, it rapidly moves through the entire tree and quickly begins to kill these actively feeding Spotted Lanternfly to protect your trees from further damage. 

About Us

John Rogalsky, Certified Arborist and Applicator, helped create the plant and tree health care division while working at Rick’s Tree Service. He later purchased the plant care division from Rick, and he now operates it as a separate entity. John has 13 years of experience in the industry, and he is passionate about developing state of the art, personalized solutions for each client.

Call 610-840-2655 to learn more or schedule your free estimate.

Call Rick’s Plant Health Care Today  |  610-840-2655

To learn more or schedule your free estimate.

If you’ve been noticing the plants on your property don’t seem to look the way they once did, or if you want to make sure you maintain their health, give us a call today. We will schedule a time to walk the property with our Certified Arborist and ensure your landscape stays healthy and beautiful all year long. We service Delaware County, Chester County, Montgomery County and surrounding areas in Pennsylvania.

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