Tree Inventories and Their Place in Commercial Landscaping. Benefits for the client. Tree inventories are widely used in many parts of the vegetation management industry as an effective way to keep track of many different sets of data including stock, condition, location, disease, photos, etc. They are also helpful tools to bridge the information gap between clients (current or prospective) and the contractor. While this is not the best solution for clients who do not have many trees or those who do not pay much attention to them, it is a great tool for those who budget tree maintenance every year or those who have a very large amount of trees and need to be very conscious of what trees need attention each year due to budget constraints. Tree inventories also show commitment on the contractors part to tracking a trees progress and health. Benefits for the contractor Tree inventories are equally beneficial to the contractor. While on site inspections will always be needed, a tree inventory can drastically reduce the amount of time needed to keep track of upcoming work and the bid process in general. Without a good inventory all properties will need to be inspected yearly to assess the health of each individual tree. If a good inventory has been kept on properties a contractor can refer to information they already have making their job far more efficient. For example we would know that property X had 8 trees that were in question last year due to Abiotic (Vehicle) damage so we will likely want to go to that property and inspect them to see if the tree has started to heal and develop reaction wood or pursue the option of removal if needed. This information may be forgotten within a year. It also has the added benefit of tracking how long it takes or how much it costs to perform a certain action to a tree allowing us to build a solid billing system over time. These are just some of the many benefits a tree inventory can bring to a company. Cost Cost is often a major concern when deciding whether a tree inventory is something a company wants to offer. While they can become very expensive a tree inventory is also very customizable. From just geolocating and placing pins on a map to species, notes, costs, bar codes, height, D.B.H, pests, pictures, grouping. The lists can go on and on, but that is what is great. We can make them a little or as much as the client needs with little overhead. Most of the cost will be found in labor and tags for the trees so even if a few clients use the inventory, it has paid for its self or cost the company little money while adding another service to our clients. Not all clients will want or need a tree inventory however I think it is a low entry cost service that we can offer to the ones who will want or need it and it is just another way we can offer worry free services.
