apple scab

Today is Arbor Day during a pandemic. And while normally, communities would be gathering to plant trees, instead many today are quietly honoring the solace nature brings in such a crisis. Unfortunately, it’s also a time of financial insecurity for many, including landscape clients. In such times, landscape maintenance can be one of the areas where people tighten the strings and reduce their budget. When working with clients, it’s important to know how to handle such reductions while still keeping a contract. Luckily, landscape maintenance is often not all or nothing. It can be difficult to advise a client where money can be saved knowing we want to do what’s best for the entire landscape. However, there are many things you can consider when reducing an annual proposal for tree health care. Is the treatment preventative or therapeutic? Is it an aesthetic issue or something more detrimental? The more variables we can consider, the easier it will be to meet a client’s budget and feel good about the choices made. Client Priorities Conversation with the client is the first place to start. Often clients have far different priorities than we may assume. For instance, it’s easy to think that an aesthetic issue, such as apple scab, would be a good place to start reducing cost compared to treatment of a more detrimental issue, such as needle cast on a blue spruce. However, ugly trees can be depressing, especially if there is a personal attachment to the tree. What if your ...