pruning at the Loose Park Arboretum. We all feel fortunate to have the opportunity to
take care of these trees, it's quite an honor for our company to be chosen again.
This is a team effort, from writing the proposals to having
the people and equipment to get the job done well. VanBooven foreman Chris Brewer and
his lead Arborist Luke Becker have been out there every day, providing the pruning expertise we need.
These two are the reason I have every confidence when out bidding tree work or writing proposals to care for rare and valuable trees, knowing they have the combination of intelligence, skill and experience in everything they do. We also needed machines and muscle to manage the tons of deadwood taken out of these trees- D'Angelo Hicks was the man with the machine and the muscle to get it done.
I have been on this job nearly every day as a project manager, but more importantly to me, I have also been able to prune quite a few trees while there.
I wanted to share some of the pictures I have taken while out working on this project:
Pictured below is a huge, roughly 150 year old Walnut, located on the west side of the park.
Pictured below is a shot taken inside one of the Pine and Spruce groves.
Pictured below: Vanbooven Arborist Luke Becker pruning a giant Cucumber Magnolia. This is the largest, oldest Cucumber Magnolia tree I have ever seen.
Also want to mention that Luke Becker has done a fantastic job pruning these trees. Luke is not only a Kansas Certified and ISA Certified Arborist, he also has a degree in Horticulture from Kansas State University. It has been a genuine pleasure working with him and watching him mature into the consummate professional and expert pruner he has become.
Pictured below is a gnarly old Elm, covered in burls. I love the shape and texture of the burls- fantastic. This is a really cool looking old tree, picture taken prior to pruning.
Pictured below: The largest Pine and Spruce grove located on the West side of Loose Park
Pictured below is another huge, very old Walnut tree being pruned. This tree is so massive it makes our bucket truck look like a car! I could not fit the entire canopy in the picture.
Pictured below: Inside one of the Eastern Redcedar groves. Redcedar are a fantastic evergreen for Northeast Kansas, these are tough trees-resistant to disease, drought- I call them Kansas Redwoods.
Pictured below:Just in case there are Redcedar fans out there, I am adding an additional photo of
some large old trees.
Pictured below: VanBooven Arborist John Cox pruning large, old Norway Spruce tree
Pictured below: Massive old Siberian Elm. We spent the best part of a day pruning this tree.
there was huge deadwood, large broken, hanging limbs. This is the finished product.
Pictured below: I saved one of the best for last, a specimen Paperbark Maple tree. This is a large, old
tree for a Paperbark Maple, they grow very slow. Love the muscular branches, shiny, exfoliating bark.
This is another one of my favorites. There are actually two of equal size right next to each other. I practically ran over to where they are to make sure I was the one pruning them.Honestly, I would have pruned these incredibly cool trees for free.
Here is a shot of the same tree at a little more distance.
I took quite a few pictures, these are some of the best ones that I wanted to share.
We only have a few days of work left in the pruning contract.
One of the stipulations of our contract is that the trees be left in as natural a condition as possible-Brilliant!! I could not agree more. We have tried to do that with every single tree we pruned.
Loose Park is a fantastic place to work, I will have to visit when I have more time on my hands to take in the sights.If you get a chance, stop in and take a walk through the park and enjoy the sights yourself, especially the trees.
