As part of our ‘Meet the Team’ blog series, hear personally from our team members about their roles at EcoNorth and more. Today, meet David, our Senior Arboriculturist Consultant.
Tell us a bit about yourself
I’m in my 50s but don’t talk about that! I’ve lived all over the place: growing up in Salford, going to university in Durham and later living in Zimbabwe and then Devon for nearly 12 years. My wife and I moved to North East England nearly 20 years ago and I changed profession from being a primary school teacher to an arboriculturist.
We live on the very edge of Chopwell Wood so I get to see how that is managed or just stare at the tree line and walk in it. I love the beach though, when I can get there, because I can completely switch off from trees and just listen to the sound of waves and stare out to sea. We have chickens and rabbits, and we may get a dog when we retire although that could be controversial?
When I’m not working, I enjoy reading (fiction and non-fiction) as well as painting and drawing. I used to rent a studio, but Covid meant it was best to give it up to save money. I’ve sold paintings in Britain and abroad and exhibited at local galleries. Hopefully I will do more in the future.
Summarise your role at EcoNorth
I am the tree expert at EcoNorth and the ‘go to’ person when clients ask for advice and need reports that can support their applications through planning, or even if they just need to know if a single tree can be retained. The majority of my work involves surveying trees to the British Standard and creating impact assessments that support the ecologists’ findings. Sometimes this will be followed up with a ‘Clerk of Works’ role on particularly complex or sensitive projects where clients may need an arboriculturalist present to supervise tree works, or to ensure that recommendations are carried out properly.
Colleagues can ask me for anything tree related that they are unsure of, although many of them are pretty good on this aspect and are improving all the time.
What got you into arboriculture?
I grew up in a family who were very into gardens. We would all watch Gardeners World on TV each week and listen to the characters on Gardeners Question Time on the radio. One older brother studied horticulture at college and became a gardener, and as a family we spent many weekends at garden centres or visiting larger public gardens in the summer. Once I had my own garden in Devon, all that knowledge was put to good use and I considered myself to be pretty good at plant ID and care.
After working as a teacher for years I felt a change of direction was needed. While attending Chopwell Woodland Festival, I chatted to one of the instructors and decided to train as a tree surgeon at Houghall College in Durham. I started with the most basic and practical based course to learn the fundamentals of tree work and horticulture, eventually going on to do the HNC/HND course there. In between that I worked as a ranger with the Forestry Commission and briefly at a local tree nursery and a tree surgery company. The college invited me back to lead the FE arboriculture courses, teaching the higher level skills to all ages.
Looking back, I think that all of these stages really eased the move to consulting and working in the industry on large and small scale private and commercial projects where trees are impacted.
What do you like most about working as an arboriculturist consultant?
The job is an enjoyable blend of outdoor field work, problem solving and working around design plans, so that I’m never stuck in one working environment. Every project is unique and has unexpected challenges. The profession itself is very forward looking and at the forefront of ecology and the future of our landscape. We are well supported professionally and my fellow arboriculturists are some of the loveliest people one could meet (although we rarely do!).
Describe the project you have worked on that you are proudest of. What did you do that worked out particularly well?
The best projects are always the ones when clients listen to and implement your advice because everybody sees it as the best solution to protect trees, whilst allowing the design to go ahead with just simple modifications and not just because the planning authority has told them to! One such job was a tree safety survey in a beautiful setting (attractive working environments are always a major bonus). The client was very amenable to suggestions and very appreciative of the clarity of the report. She understood the need to protect trees but also listened to suggestions about managing disease and removal of a small number of trees in conflict with offices. Also, we could agree together on the best species to plant for the future and what would work with climate change. The communication with an enthusiastic and amenable client paid dividends and led to further recommendations.
What do you see for the future?
Trees are more vulnerable than ever right now – not just from their removal for much needed housing stock, but from pests and diseases that are destroying many trees throughout the world and spreading to Britain. The ease of moving timber, unregulated seedlings and trees isn’t helping, nor is climate change, which is happening faster than trees can adapt.
More tree experts are needed to advise and identify problems as early as possible. The profession is struggling to train and retain arboriculturists at all levels, but especially in surveying and expert advice at a time when the need is greater than ever. This should be the easiest challenge to manage, but skills shortages are occurring in many professions presently and we need to sell the positives of the arboricultural profession to many more people.
Finally, what advice would you give to anyone starting out?
Don’t give up. It takes time to build up knowledge and expertise and the learning never ends. Hands on experience with tree surgery will help you to understand tree growth and the characteristics of different species, which will inform your recommendations. I believe it really helps to get into gardening in general as this will help you to understand plant growth and the interactions with all flora – not just being a specialist tree person. Watch TV programmes, join the ISA or the Arboricultural Association to keep up to date with developments and visit botanical gardens whenever you can to keep ID skills well practiced.
On a different note, what is the funniest thing you’ve ever done?
Probably demonstrating my over-enthusiastic high kick in a drama lesson at school and ending up on my backside in front of the whole class. The embarrassment was off the scale!