Arboriculture is the science of tree care and stewardship. People indigenous to northern coastal California have deep cultural knowledge of their native trees. arbor– is the Latin root meaning tree. The last part of the word comes from the word agriculture, which refers to the raising of a crop (like raising a child, only a food plant). So arboriculture is sort of raising trees like they’re your babies. It’s not exactly what this scientist does, because the trees are much much older than she is, but I would classify her as an arborist because she knows so much about caring for the trees.
Arborists You Should Know
Maiya Rainer is a member of the Yurok tribe, which has Redwood tree science deeply woven into its culture and passed down through generations. Ms. Rainer works as an interpreter at Sue-meg State Park in Northern California.
Introducing the topic
I’m putting these in order from the most abstract topics to more specific. The videos also get more and more verbal. Use as many or few as you need.
Experience the Science
Plant a tree
Prune a tree
Hire someone to plant or prune a tree, and then ask them lots of questions.
Most tree-trimming services employ arborists. Maybe call and ask for an interview.
Go to a botanical garden or a nature center (ideally an arboretum?) and ask about arborists.
https://www.treeutah.org/events/hiking/hike-with-an-arborist-at-brighton-resort
Check out the list of scientists working at the national arboretum:
https://www.usna.usda.gov/science/our-scientists/
Here’s my favorite local (to me) arboriculture resource:
https://www.treesatlanta.org/programs/treecare/
Analyzing and responding
(This is the part you would assess if assessment were your thing.)
Multisensory
Some people feel like they can feel a tree sort of communicating with them. Can we imagine what that would feel like? Can we sit next to a tree and close our eyes and touch the trunk and breathe the smell of the tree (they communicate with each other using chemical signals)? What about looking at the leaves? Can we tell if a tree is healthy? How would we know? What do trees like? What do they dislike? What would your tree say if it could use words? How might you care for the trees around you? Which one is your favorite? Why? Does it know you’re there?
Creative
Respond to the questions above by writing a story, a script, a poem, or by making a piece of visual art.
The photo here is called Ancient Redwood Giants, Smith River by Louisa McCovey https://www.louisamccoveyartdesign.com/collections/canvas-prints/products/canvas-prints-30
The artist has layered Yurok tribal symbols over a photo of redwoods. Use the formal art criticism technique here to record your impressions of Louisa McCovey’s work.
Louisa McCovey takes photos and then overlays graphics. Take a photo of a tree, print it out (in color or in black and white), and draw over it. If you want to look like the one pictured here, try white crayon or pastel color pencils so that you can still see through what you’ve colored.
Verbal
Compare and contrast the following: arborist and forester; arborist and dendrologist; arboretum and forest; arborist and gardener
Here are some resources to try:
- www.entymonline.com
- www.m-w.com
- chatGPT–try asking for different numbers of words explaining the differences (10, 50, 200, 1000)
- Try using wikipedia to look up each one. See if you can click on the little citation numbers and find primary sources.
- Google search with the phrase, “What’s the difference between…”
- Bing.com answers your question and then provides links. Try clicking on the various links and see if you can get to the primary sources.
- Try this link and compare with what you find on other sites.
Analytical
Lots of plant experiments can be found here, but we want a tree experiment…and we don’t want to hurt any trees! (Plus, we don’t have a million years to wait for them to grow.)
I suggest leaf, branch, or bark experiments. One super popular tool is making leaf discs. You can use a regular hole punch if you have one, or you can get a fancy circle puncher like this one from Michael’s. You want uniform circles so you can control the variable that is “leaf disc diameter.”
Now, you can do tons of things with these leaf discs, just by assessing how they float:
Try changing the color of the light, the amount of carbon dioxide in the water (add baking soda), the intensity of the light, or keep everything constant (control the variables listed) and change the tree species.
You can also try testing how much pigment they release into water (especially dried up leaves). The brown stuff that soaks into water is called “tannins” and it’s used by the tree to keep the leaves from being eaten.
What about “cuticle”? Lots of leaves have a thick waxy/plastic-y layer called “cuticle” to keep them from drying out. How can you test that? It’s definitely different for different tree species, different ages of the leaf, and even the time of year.