From reader Annika…
So Cal Edison’s ‘tree service’ contractor, Mowbray’s, knocked on my door just a minute ago asking if they could have access to prune some limbs around the electric lines at the back of my property. I obliged, without giving it a second thought.
A few minutes later I saw their worker climbing my Oak with SPIKES! I studied arboriculture 20 years ago and back then it was already well known that this is a BAD practice for the trees. It damages the tree bark, often down to the phloem tissue, and leaves the trees vulnerable to infection. At this time in the season when trees are already stressed from low water, and with the numerous pests that already Also, with climbers like this moving along from house to house, and tree to tree, this dramatically increases the risk of cross contamination from diseased trees, not to mention soil pathogens that can be most deadly to Oak trees.
Clearly, So Cal Edison has awarded the job to the lowest bidder, not to a company that maintains tree-safe practices. I’ve already got my calls in to let them know my opinion about this practice.
Neighbors beware! Don’t let Mowbray’s in to prune your tress unless they leave their spikes on the truck. If only I had known…
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I will try to post this on the Ojai Trees facebook page or send it to one of the committee members. Please also send this as a Letter to the OVN. People need to know this!
Thanks Tyler and Suza. I was out of town and just returned so pardon the lag in updating here.
just so you know, I did call Mowbrays minutes after their crew had left my house, made my concern known, and received a prompt call-back a couple hours later from a supervisor in Ventura. He came up to see the damage and spent quite a while talking with me. He appeared to agree with me that spike-climbing is not appropriate, he was well aware of ISA (International Society of Arboriculture) guidelines against this practice. He mentioned that they have conducted ‘lots’ of training for their employees, and that they have 4 ISA certified arborists on staff. He agreed with everything I pointed out about the risks associated with this practice.
He offered to place my name on ‘a list’ to submit to Edison to note that no spike climbing should ever happen at my address in the future. I appreciated that he was concerned about the future of my trees, regardless of whether his company wins Edison’s contract in the future. However, my greater concern is that they stop ALL spike climbing, not only at specific properties where owners complain (how many owners are not watching when this happens, and don’t even notice after the fact?). I want to hear Mowbray’s, and Edison for that matter, committ to not use spikes at all.
Tom Bostrom mentioned to me a county ‘tree protection ordinance’ or something like that. I’m not famliiar with it, but he explained that becuase Edison ‘owns’ the easment under thier lines, they are basically ‘exempt’ from this ordinance. This may be true, but I still think it’s something worth trying to tackle and clarify. Edison should be required to hire contractors that adhere to ISA standards as well as tree protection ordinances. At the very least, if they are going to use spikes in certain situations, it would be appropriate to follow tool sanitation procedures between trees to prevent the spread of pathogens from one tree to the next.
My next step will be to call Edison and see if I can find anyone to talk with about this, and perhaps Supervisor Bennet’s office (I’m in the unincorporated area).
I didn’t know there was an Ojai Trees facebook page. I’ll have to look for it…
Thanks!