There should be more books about arboriculture. There simply aren’t enough. People know the terms ‘tree lopping’ and ‘tree surgery’, but they don’t realise there’s a whole science and art behind arboriculture. I got the idea while my neighbour was getting their tree cut down because it was interfering with the power lines. I happened to look into tree removal and discovered way more about the topic. For instance, did you know that cutting a tree a certain way can actually help it grow bigger and faster? It sounds counter intuitive but it actually works. It’s not all about tree felling, Melbourne CBD arborists actually help trees grow.
There are so many creative possibilities with a book about arboriculture. You could do a chapter for each aspect of tree care, from hedge trimming to stump removal. You could also catalogue all the various shapes of hedges that you can trim, like animals and stuff. You could have a chapter about arborists in pop culture, like for example, Edward Scissorhands. Just after the movie was a huge box office hit, there was a spike in arborist services all over the country. Every Tom, Dick, and Harry wanted to get their hedges pruned and trees trimmed. It’s amazing what a celebrity face can do for tree pruning. Melbourne folks are all suckers for Hollywood stars with tree cutting skills. If actor Johnny Depp says arborists are cool, then we think they’re cool. We’re very impressionable down here in Melbourne, less so than Sydney. Plus up there people don’t take care of their gardens as much as they do down here in Melbourne because they’re lazier than us. It’s immediately noticeable when you fly into Sydney airport, you can see all their gardens out of control whereas ours are neat and pretty. I’m not trying to start some kind of beef with our cousins up top but I have to call it like I see it. They’ve got no imagination up there.