Ash Morton says ropes play a major part of his job as an arborist. Photo / Ted Baghurst
Have you ever been amazed at the skill of an arborist heading up a tree, roped and harnessed and sawing away at branches at seemingly impossible heights and angles?
Arborist training is offered through one of four New Zealand providers:
* Horticulture Industry Training
* Organisation (HortITO)
* Lincoln University
* Otago Polytechnic
* Wintec in Hamilton.
Wintec's level four Certificate in Arboriculture teaches the practical skills and technical expertise required for tree assessment and care.
Assessments vary. Tree felling is entirely practical, while tree climbing has a combination of practical and written exams. Tree biology has labs, exams and assignments. There is roughly a 50/50 split between written and practical assessments.
Students undertake practical projects, including the felling of large, difficult trees, with local and regional councils and home owners.
Wintec is well-known internationally for arboriculture and attracts several international students, including students from China, Sweden, the United States and Japan.
The certificate leads into a diploma in arboriculture that develops managerial and consultancy skills.
I'm up a tree over 20m tall at least three times a week. There are some insanely good climbers at Treescape and I learn a lot from them.
My day at Treescape starts at 7am in the yard. We do lots of work on trees growing near lines, parks and reserves, often reacting to calls made to council.
Every day is different. One day could involve lots of little jobs; the next could be just one big climb, such as taking a couple of limbs off a 25m tree to make it safe in a park or bring it back off the road or away from a house. If we're working on a busy road, we also do traffic control.
We always have at least two people working together, one up a tree and one down. The ground person ties knots, maintains the chainsaw as it goes up and helps with the rigging.
It is not a dangerous job if you're trained and know what you're doing but accidents do happen so we have to take all the practical steps to ensure people's safety.
The biggest job I've done was removing a dead pine tree over 20m high. It was beside the ocean at Hobsonville and the weather turned bad while I was up the tree. I had to keep really focused on the line in hand and check continually in front of me.
Ropes play a major part in the job. You become pretty good at tying ropes quickly. At tech we practised tying knots behind our backs to become really familiar with them and able to tie them in difficult positions. The main knots you need are stopper knots, attachment knots and friction knots. We spent three days a week at Wintec studying. One day was in class learning theory and technical skills and the other days we were out climbing, felling and using chainsaws.
We'd practise techniques, such as throwing weighted lines to access branches and moving around in the trees' canopies.
We practised in all weathers too. Wind is the most dangerous aspect of tree climbing. It is easier to take precautions if a tree is wet and slippery than if it is getting blown around. We'd be assessed on how fast we could climb and on rescuing someone using a dummy. Rescue is important because we need to know how to get someone down if they get hurt. We learned how to use different saws up in the tree and how to cut them in ways so the branches fall down in specific places.
There were also essays and exams on things like tree identification.
I'm now working through the diploma because I'm keen to know more about the management and consultancy side of arboriculture.
Treescape provides professional arboriculture services including municipal and private arboriculture, large tree transplanting, power line clearing, grounds maintenance and consultancy.
Ash, who is a level four graduate from Wintec, was referred to us by Wintec senior staff.
We regularly employ students from this course and have found them to be well trained and skilful like Ash, although they do lack experience.
We give them the opportunity to test and develop their skills under the guidance of experienced foremen.
I helped to set up the Wintec course in 1988. Until then arboriculture in New Zealand was mainly horticulturists using ladders. I trained in England, then worked there and in Canada and NZ.
Treescape also takes on trainees with no arboriculture background and puts them through the first year of the Wintec on-job training course to give them basic training and skills.
A good arborist must have common sense and enthusiasm for hard physical work.
We want people who are fit, reliable and keen to work outside in all weathers. They must have a passion for the environment and be able to problem-solve, especially when working aloft on big trees in confined spaces.
There is a shortage of skilled arborists. The work is varied and exciting and there is plenty of opportunity to travel throughout New Zealand or work in Australia.
New Zealand is a good place to learn arboriculture because we are able to grow a huge variety of trees around the country, so we learn a lot about trees from other countries too.
Arborist
Certificate in Horticulture (Arboriculture) Level 4, (includes National Certificate in Horticulture (Arboriculture) level 3 to 4 advanced)
Wintec, Hamilton Gardens Campus
Contact: 0800 2 WINTEC (946 832) or +6478386399, Free text 8283, info@wintec.ac.nz, www.wintec.ac.nz
Entry requirements: Level 2 Certificate in Arboriculture or equivalent
Physical requirements: Fit and flexible and able to lift own weight for climbing
2012 tertiary fees: Domestic $5650: International: $18,900. Also independent activity fee of about $1000 for climbing kit and equipment, such as ropes, harnesses, carabiners
Intake: February
Length: One year with part-time options
Starting hourly rate: $17 - $21 per hour
Employment options: Arborist, amenity tree-care manager, local authority or self-employed arboricultural contractor
The graduate
Ash Morton, 21
Arborist for Treescape
Completed level 4 certificate in 2009, currently studying level 6 diploma
The council has also been served with judicial review proceedings.