Swinging from limb to limb

A hankering for a change in lifestyle prompted Certificate in Arboriculture student Ben Fentiman to trade in his five-year Forestry career for one climbing and caring for trees.
 
Having trained and worked in forestry straight out of school Ben had always been tempted by Arboriculture and the promise of “shorter hours and more variety.”

“In arboriculture you don’t usually to start till eight because of noise levels and are often finished by four o’clock. You’re generally based within the city and each day you’re on a different site facing different challenges. One day you’ll be taking a tree down, another day you’ll have to prune a big tree and make it look really good.
 
 “I’m taking a bit of a pay-cut in arboriculture but it’s so worth it cause of the lifestyle – it’s so much better."

Already half way through the year-long certificate Ben really enjoys “swinging in the trees” and learning about tree health. He says, “Putting the trees best interest first plays a large role in arboriculture."

Arborists, also known as ‘tree surgeons’ specialise in caring for trees and shrubs through maintenance, transplanting, removal of dead and diseased branches and formative pruning.
 
Asked if he’d ever go back to forestry Ben shakes his head ‘no’ saying, “I like the creativity arboriculture offers and being able to see a result at the end of the day. You’ve really got to concentrate hard on turning the tree into something really nice, giving it a good shape and pruning it to be healthy.
 
 “I like being able to get down afterwards and see the tree looking way better then when I had started.”

Ben believes there will always be work in the arboriculture sector. Quoting a lecturer he says, “Trees don’t need to be pruned – people will always need trees to be pruned.”