Spring 2026 NEWSLETTER

President’s Message

Hello and welcome to our APA newsletter! I am most happy to announce our newest APA Certified Aesthetic Pruner® #70, Joseph Nontanovan of Portland, Oregon! Congratulations, Joseph, on your achievement, which represents a lot of hard work, as well as dedication to our profession. May the CAP certification serve you well in your career, and inspire others in the profession. 

Please enjoy this latest newsletter! This one is full of excellent tree information, events for our continued professional development, and ideas for the future of the organization. Enjoy looking through it and feel free to reach out to us with any thoughts and ideas, as always. And keep enjoying this lovely spring!

Lara Miranda

APA Certified Aesthetic Pruner® #65
President, Aesthetic Pruners Association

apapresident@aestheticprunersassociation.org
510.658.3438

Feature Article

The Price of Pruning — How Trees Budget, Save, and Recover

Peter Quintanilla, CAP #25

I often encounter people who believe pruning is a cure for struggling trees, with the assumption that pruning will restore their vigor. What I explain is that the opposite is true: a struggling tree simply may not be able to afford it. Pruning imposes immediate energy costs while simultaneously reducing the tree's capacity to produce new energy. Before any cuts are made, a stressed tree needs time to rebuild its internal reserves. To understand why, it helps to look at how trees actually manage their resources.

How Trees Manage Their Resources

Most of us are familiar with managing money across different accounts: a checking account for daily expenses and a long-term reserve for emergencies or future needs. Trees operate in a surprisingly similar way, except their currency is carbon. Plants and trees capture carbon through photosynthesis and store it as sugars and starches. This energy is then continuously allocated between storage, growth, defense, reproduction, and maintenance, with priorities shifting in response to environmental conditions and physiological stress.

Trees and plants maintain at least two types of carbon reserves. A "fast" pool of readily available sugars handles immediate needs like respiration and growth, while a "slow" pool of older reserves acts as a long-term safety net during major disturbances. Under normal conditions, trees spend recent deposits first, a "last in, first out" strategy. But when conditions get tough, they draw deeper into older reserves. 

Both newly produced carbon and stored reserves are limited, so trees must allocate them among competing functions. When resources are adequate, the tree directs its energy towards necessary functions. When a tree’s demand for growth is stimulated by, for example, high-nitrogen fertilizer, it needs to draw energy from stored carbon. This is often at the expense of defense and structural strength. Increased growth can reduce resistance to pests and disease, while heavy reproduction can limit other processes. Thus, trees must “budget” resources strategically, balancing survival, development, and protection depending on environmental conditions.

The True Cost of a Cut

This balancing act becomes especially important when we intervene through pruning. From the outside, pruning appears to be a simple mechanical act. Internally, the tree is forced into a complex financial decision that affects both its income and its expenses.

On the revenue side, every removed leaf and branch was actively contributing to photosynthesis. Fewer leaves mean less energy production going forward, while the tree's baseline maintenance costs remain unchanged. On the cost side, the moment a cut is made, the tree launches a sophisticated defense response: sealing tissues, producing protective chemicals, and activating hormones to coordinate repair. None of these processes come without cost.

The most energy-intensive of these responses is compartmentalization. Unlike animals, trees do not heal; they compartmentalize injuries. The tree builds internal barriers to limit the spread of decay and produces new woundwood from the cambium, both of which represent a major withdrawal from stored carbohydrates. Every cut triggers spending from the tree’s savings, and depending on the severity of pruning, that cost can be substantial.

Fortunately, trees are naturally good savers. A healthy tree growing in favorable conditions typically carries substantial carbon reserves, enough to absorb the costs of routine pruning and even at times over-pruning. Its reserves are deep enough to fund the response, fuel regrowth, and return to a positive carbon balance. The trouble arises with trees already running a carbon deficit before the first cut was made.

When a Tree Can't Afford to Recover

Ironically, pruning can prompt a counterintuitive response. With a reduced canopy but an intact root system, the tree temporarily has more resources available per remaining branch. This can stimulate vigorous regrowth, particularly as hormonal balances shift. The removal of branch tips reduces auxin levels, releasing dormant buds into active growth. This surge of growth may appear to signal recovery, but it is actually a costly stress response. 

In the end, pruning is not just a structural intervention, it's an economic one. Each cut forces the tree to rebalance its internal budget under conditions that may already be constrained. Understanding how carbon reserves and environmental stress interact allows us to make better decisions: ensuring that when we do prune, the tree can afford the cost and recover with resilience. Sometimes, the best pruning recommendation is no pruning at all. 

References 

Hirons, A. & Thomas, P. Applied Tree Biology. Wiley-Blackwell, 2018. 

Lloyd, John, editor. Plant Health Care for Woody Ornamentals: A Professional's Guide to Preventing and Managing Environmental Stresses and Pests. International Society of Arboriculture, 1997.

Peter Quintanilla is an ISA Board Certified Master Arborist and an APA Certified Aesthetic Pruner®. He teaches arboriculture and landscape pruning at Cabrillo College and Monterey Peninsula College.

APA Upcoming Events

APA CAP Mentoring

with CAPs Eric King and Dina Blackwell

Have questions about becoming certified? We’re here to help!

Monday, May 4, 2026
6pm – 7:30pm (PDT)

The next CAP application deadline is Tuesday, September 1, 2026!

REGISTER

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APA Tree Talk
Leaf Thinning Techniques from the Japanese Garden Tradition

with APA CAP Bill Castellon

Sunday, June 7, 2026
3:00pm – 5:00pm (PDT)

on Zoom

Bill Castellon will describe and demonstrate Japanese garden leaf thinning techniques for trees and shrubs. These techniques are appropriate for use in any garden.

REGISTER

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APA Intermediate/Advanced Aesthetic Pruning of Fruit Trees - Part 2

A HANDS-ON WORKSHOP

with CAPs Ann Owen and Evelyn Borchert

This workshop goes beyond the basics of pruning for fruit production to focus on enhancing the aesthetic value of fruit trees.

Saturday, June 27, 2026
9:00am - 3:30pm (PDT)

Rossmoor Garden Club, Walnut Creek, CA

REGISTER

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APA New Professionals
Defining the Scope of Your Business

with panelists Joseph Nontanovan, Evelyn Borchert and Dina Blackwell

Sunday, July 12, 2026
3:00pm – 5:00pm (PDT)

REGISTER

Other Events

Western Chapter of ISA

Structural Pruning 
This full-day seminar brings together three of the industry’s most respected leaders to explore the science, strategy, and skilled practice of structural pruning. Designed for arborists, urban foresters, landscape professionals, and anyone committed to long-term tree health, the program blends foundational theory with advanced techniques and hands-on fieldwork.

Thursday, September 17, 2026
 
8am - 4pm PDT
Finley Community Center

Santa Rosa, CA 

Early registration here (through 9/7/26)

$140 - WCISA Member

$165 - Non-WCISA Member

$70 - Student/Senior

Becoming a CAP

We hear from a Certified Aesthetic Pruner about why they decided to become a CAP!

Eric King, CAP #52

I have been asked to provide three reasons for someone to want to be a Certified Aesthetic Pruner (CAP) with the APA. The reasons can be many, and they vary from any pruner’s specific situation and location and point of view, but I have three reasons so here goes it.

The first is professional. When you are a CAP, your name is listed prominently in the Find a Pruner section of the APA’s website. This is a tool that more and more people are learning about and using as the concept of aesthetic pruning is being spread further and further, thanks largely to the great efforts of members within the APA reaching out publicly, and to other horticultural societies and groups nationally and internationally.  I personally receive several contacts a year from my name being listed on the APA website, and each of these contacts is a source of word of mouth business from friends and family of the new client. 

The second is about reputation. To become certified is to have proven yourself to be among the top ranks of the people in your field. Aesthetic pruning is a highly specialized slice of the horticultural world—it is peopled by professionals who are interested in both the art and the science of forming a tree’s presence and shape while always maintaining its health.  By going through the rigorous process of becoming certified, you are showing to your peers and your clients that not only are you capable and adept at your work, but also that you can rise to a challenge and do something hard, which is basically the interesting part that happens every day in a pruner’s work life.

The third reason I would say is personal. This is a group of incredibly smart, incredibly gifted, and most of all incredibly giving people. These are people who have learned concepts and developed techniques that are complex and meld artistic form with biology. And these are people who readily want to share what they have learned and created because they see in others a like-minded soul who revels in the beauty and wonder of what it is to do this profession. I feel so lucky to have found myself in this career, and becoming certified cements my experience with this group.  Being involved with and volunteering for the Aesthetic Pruners Association is a way of recognizing and giving back to an organization that has helped me out professionally, intellectually, and spiritually far more than I can ever say.

APA Members-only Videos

Members can access video links to past APA Talks!

Links to Tree Talks, APA Annual Meeting talks, and other archived presentations are available on the APA Members page of the website. 
You must be logged in to your account to see the Members page.

APA News

Welcome New APA Board Members!

The APA is very happy to welcome its two newest board members:

Ethan Coté - Secretary

Christopher Roddick - Member at Large

Ethan Coté will take on the role of APA Secretary, joining the monthly board meetings via Zoom. He is from Grand Rapids, Michigan where he takes care of an 8 acre Japanese Garden at Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park. He’s been part of the pruning world since 2017, almost entirely at Meijer Gardens. 

Ethan is deeply interested and involved in the Japanese garden community, and is a member of the North American Japanese Garden Association (NAJGA), which is where he was introduced to members of the APA.  

Ethan loves learning and getting to curate a space that draws people closer to nature through aesthetic pruning and public garden maintenance. He enjoys collaborating with other stewards of this mindset through continued connection and relationship building. He is excited to be more involved with the APA and is hoping to draw more of an APA presence to the midwest.

Christopher Roddick is joining the APA board as a Member at Large and will also attend the monthly APA board meetings via Zoom from his home in Connecticut. 

Chris is an arborist and pruner, and was the head of arboriculture and foreman of grounds at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden for 29 years before moving to southern New England to start Sweet Birch Land & Tree, a horticulture consultancy specializing in tree preservation and pruning. He practices ecological arboriculture, a holistic approach to caring for trees and land that uses a modern understanding of tree and soil biology, ecology, and organic practices as a base for maintenance and cultivation decisions. Chris studied ornamental horticulture at Longwood Gardens and participated for many years in Dr. Alex Shigo’s tree biology seminars. Chris is an ISA certified arborist.

Chris’s interest in aesthetic pruning started after he had been at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden for a few years and became curious about tree pruning in the Japanese Garden. He read what little he could find on the topic in English, spoke with everyone he could find, and eventually found his way to a pruning class led by Doug Roth of the Journal of Japanese Gardening. Chris studied under Doug for many years at the Shin Boku nursery in New Hampshire, where he was able to use his skills as an arborist while learning this new approach of styling and pruning for aesthetics.

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Fruit Tree Pruning Workshop Review

On a sunny day in early March, twenty pruners gathered under a giant oak tree in Walnut Creek, California. We were there for the APA’s Advanced Fruit Tree Pruning Workshop at the Rossmoor Garden Club. Over the years, garden members have planted a variety of fruit trees but many of them have not been maintained. With a community garden style layout, the site provided opportunities for pruners to work on a range of trees, from young to mature, from neglected to damaged to needing only refinement. Past APA workshops have covered the basics of pruning for structure and fruit production; our goal this time was to focus on the aesthetic considerations of pruning fruit trees. Teachers Ann Owen (CAP #63) and Evelyn Borchert (CAP #64) were assisted by APA members Josias Harder and Carolyn Cooley (CAP #15). After introductions and a brief overview, we split into groups to work collaboratively on trees. With plenty of time for deliberating and strategizing, each group worked on multiple trees. At the end of the day we gathered together to tour the trees and see each other’s work. The workshop was topped off by a grafting demonstration. Trees we worked on included apple, pear, peach, persimmon, plum, lemon and loquat.

On Saturday, June 27, we will hold Part 2 of this workshop. This session will address summer pruning approaches, including following up and refining work done in the dormant season. We will revisit the trees we worked on in March, as well as work on some apricots and other trees. You are welcome to register for this workshop even if you didn’t participate in the first one. For this round, we are describing it as an “intermediate/advanced” pruning workshop. You don’t have to be an expert to participate! Any APA or Merritt College Pruning Club member with basic knowledge of fruit tree terminology and aesthetic pruning concepts is welcome to register. You can register here.

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2026 Dick Austin Distinguished Service Award

Every year at our Annual Membership Meeting, the APA board acknowledges the contributions of one or two APA members who have given much of their time and effort to the organization—especially over the past year—with our Distinguished Service Award. As many of you know, last spring we lost our dear friend and founding member of the APA, Dick Austin. In recognition of his incredible dedication to our pruning community and decades of volunteering in various capacities in gardening and pruning organizations, the board decided to rename the award in his honor: The Dick Austin Distinguished Service Award.

At this year’s Annual Meeting, we presented the award to two very worthy recipients: Walt Fujii and Eric King. 

Walt Fujii has been involved in the APA’s Craft Standards committee since its inception, and served as co-chair of the committee from October 2024 to March 2026. During his time as co-chair, he dedicated countless hours to helping revamp the CAP exam and Test Administrator guidelines, along with co-chair Allison Levin and the rest of the committee. He has also been incredibly supportive as a mentor to pruners and has volunteered at many pruning events in the community over the years. 

Eric King recently finished serving a record ten years on the APA board, including the past six years as Secretary and the previous four years as Member at Large. His fresh perspective and sense of humor will be greatly missed by his fellow board members. Eric has also generously volunteered his time and energy for many years to the CAP Mentoring meetings, which he still co-leads with Dina Blackwell. Both during the meetings and in his free time, Eric provides support and encouragement to pruners preparing for the APA’s Certified Aesthetic Pruner (CAP) application process and exam.

Heartfelt thanks to you both, Walt and Eric!

Previous recipients of the Distinguished Service Award include Grant Foerster and Maryann Lewis (2021), Randall Lee (2022), Barb Eaton (2023), Dina Blackwell (2024), and Allison Levin (2025). 

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“Where would you like to see the APA in 5 years?”

At this year’s APA Annual Meeting, held on Sunday, January 25, 2026, members were separated into smaller groups to discuss topics and questions such as the one above.

Many great creative and thought-provoking answers were given to this particular question, so we decided to share them with you here. Perhaps it will spark some ideas of your own?

• Add a 501(c)(3) branch to our organization which could help with funding and grants to further our educational goals and allow for tax exempt donations.

• Create local chapters in other regions.  If created, perhaps these chapters could help the board out by handling their own administrative work.

• Hire paid part-time staff to help the board with administrative work.

• Work on APA branding, specifically to portray the APA as an elite organization, and to create standards that would be consistent to all chapters/members.

• Develop a national presence by creating ambassadors in different areas who would represent the APA and discuss what we do as an organization.

• Create a Youtube channel that is available to the public with short clips that exemplify aesthetic pruning. We could possibly use our existing material.

• Have APA pruners give talks at conferences, garden shows, nurseries, etc.

• Create Aesthetic Pruning pamphlets that could be used to educate the public.

• Marketing: create freebies such as ear plugs, stickers, suitcase tags, etc. with the APA logo and website on them to hand out to the public at events.

• Have an APA table in vendor areas at conferences, garden shows, and other events.

• Market aesthetic pruning and the APA to the public so that it becomes a common term, much like the familiarity that the ISA has developed.

• Create a greater presence in the arboriculture world, such as by partnering with the ISA in some way.

• Create standard practices for beginning education, such as an introduction to aesthetic pruning that can be used as a tool in other areas, by other chapters/members; develop a basic curriculum.

• Create online aesthetic pruning courses for members. Include topics on art and design and the philosophy behind why we do what we do.

• Create a fund to cover the costs of sending teachers to other areas to teach pruning to APA members.

• Hold an annual national conference for members where they can learn pruning techniques and network with each other.

• Master gardeners are a good audience for us and could be a good partnership nationwide.

• Create a database of trees that includes pruning timing, pests and diseases, aesthetic ideas per tree.

• Create an aesthetic pruning manual.

• Work on member retention and bringing new members in.

• Hold advanced pruning workshops.

• Create a mentoring group for advanced pruners; a social way to get feedback and mentor each other. Create a structure for mentorship in general.

Do any of these topics interest you? If you would like to work with the APA board, or one of its committees, to take on one of these projects please contact: apa@aestheticprunersassociation.org.

And please share any thoughts you may have on any of the above topics on the APA website Forum page.

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Holding the Hand Lens: Evaluating a Facet of Our Professional Organization, with Professional Guidance 

Nicki LaPlante, CAP #56

The APA Board of Directors has committed to working with Kim Andrews, of Kim Andrews Nonprofit Consulting LLC, on the initial phase of a multi-phase plan to move our organization from an all-volunteer structure to an organization that has a part-time employee.

This is a major step forward in the process of expanding the organization’s vision and offerings to a broader audience.

In this initial phase, Kim will work with the APA to establish a clear understanding of our organization’s current readiness, governance structure, and a definition of our staffing needs. She will accomplish this by reviewing our current organizational systems and drafting initial role expectations for a staff member, which will include details about which tasks would be most appropriate to move from volunteer to staff responsibilities.

The APA currently offers a variety of programs, like Tree Talks, certification, hands-on workshops, a website and online presence, and public outreach. To have a paid staff member dedicated to assuring these programs continue smoothly and on a regular basis would be immensely beneficial. We will always need volunteers, but a staff member dedicated to managing our efforts will allow volunteers to focus on their individual responsibilities in service to the community.

This first phase will not create any changes in the short term, but rather educate us on what the APA’s actual needs are and what our potential could be, should we choose to take a step toward hiring an employee.

We will keep you up to date via this newsletter on how this project unfolds and we look forward to learning what the future holds!

Thoughts From a Member

Eigenzeit: Letting the Work Set the Pace

Peter Quintanilla, CAP #25

Many languages have words with no direct equivalent in English, words that capture ideas we can feel but struggle to name. The Japanese Komorebi (“sunlight leaking through trees”) is a perfect example, and one of my favorites.

A few years ago, I came across a German word whose meaning resonated with something deep and familiar to me. The word is Eigenzeit. It means “the time inherent to a process itself.” I found it in Oliver Burkeman's Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals. The word comes from eigen, meaning “one’s own,” and Zeit, meaning “time.” At its core, it suggests that every process has its own natural rhythm, independent of the watch on your wrist or the phone in your pocket.

Like many aesthetic pruners, I try to approach pruning as a craft, one that is thoughtful about the nature of the tree and the skills I employ. I do better work and find it more rewarding when time is not a factor. Eigenzeit gives me the language for that instinct. It reminds me to give the work the time it requires.

When I teach hands-on pruning, I listen. If I hear the rapid sound of clip, clip, clip, clip, clip from a student, I walk over and ask, “Are you thinking about each cut?” It’s not a scolding. It’s a reminder that the work asks something of you, your attention, your presence. Each cut shapes what comes next and that deserves a moment of real thought.

In the book, Burkeman writes: “the capacity to resist the urge to hurry, to allow things to take the time they take, is a way to gain purchase on the world, to do the work that counts and to derive satisfaction from the doing itself.” That describes exactly how I want to prune and how I encourage my students to learn.

That said, I’m not naive. There are jobs where we don’t have the luxury of taking our time, where the work simply needs to be done by a certain time. That’s why, when we do have the opportunity to work at our own pace, we should enjoy it. Eigenzeit isn’t an excuse to dawdle. It doesn’t mean slow. It means moving at the pace good work requires.

And here’s what I’ve noticed over the years: I prune faster now than I did a decade ago. Not because I’ve stopped thinking, but because the thinking and the pruning has become second nature to me. That focus has helped me become more aware of my immediate surroundings. By practicing Eigenzeit I savor Komorebi.

Welcome New APA Members

Associate Members

Toby Partridge (London, UK)
Corey Barnes (San Jose, CA)
Chester Jankowski Jr. (Glencoe, IL)
Blake McWatters (Grand Rapids, MI)
Akiko Komori (Torrance, CA)

Affiliate Members

Patricia Carpenter (Davis, CA)
Kim White
Brandon Elrod (Anaheim, CA)

Student Members

David France (San Francisco, CA)

Organizational Members

Trees & Me, LLC - Chad P. Giblin (Saint Paul, MN)

Committee Chair Reports

CRAFT STANDARDS COMMITTEE
Co-chairs: Allison Levin, CAP #34 and Emily Fronckowiak, CAP #57

Committee members: Dina Blackwell, Grant Foerster, Maryann Lewis, Judy Thomas, Walt Fujii and Randall Lee

Major events happening since the winter report:

1. Walt Fujii stepped down from the Craft Standards Committee at the end of March. He has been on the committee since before the APA’s inception and a co-chair since October of 2024. A big thank you and much appreciation to Walt for the many years of service!

2. The new committee co-chair is Emily Fronckowiak. Welcome, Emily!

3. We received an impressive number of applications for this certification cycle. Thanks to the many CAPs who have volunteered to act as test administrators: Evelyn Borchert, Diana Chamberlain, Ethan Coté, Grant Foerster, Walt Fujii, Emily Fronckowiak, Melissa Hyams, Allison Levin, Maryann Lewis, Bruce Thompson, and Peter Quintantilla. We couldn’t do it without you! If you’re a CAP and curious about becoming a test administrator, please send us a note!

4. This round of certification has brought up questions regarding scaling to accommodate new applicants. We will continue the discussion in upcoming meetings as well as collect feedback from the TAs.

5. Continuing the “Why I’m a CAP” promotion to inspire more pruners to become certified by sharing testimonials from CAPs in the APA newsletter. If you would like to share your story, please contact the Craft Standards Committee.

The APA Certified Aesthetic Pruner® (CAP) designation recognizes those professional pruners who demonstrate a high level of proficiency when applying the art and science to aesthetic pruning. For this reason, the Craft Standards Committee seeks members whose knowledge and experience will maintain the well-earned reputation of the CAP designation.

Do you see events and topics you would like to be a part of? We welcome input and participation from interested members! Contact us at craftstandards@aestheticprunersassociation.org

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EDUCATION COMMITTEE
Chair: Carolyn Cooley, CAP #15

Committee members: Evelyn Borchert, Cathy Crystal, Greg Kitajima, Allison Levin, Lara Miranda, Peter Quintanilla, Matthew Taylor, Judy Thomas

We continue to plan and host educational events for APA members! Part 1 of our Fruit Tree Pruning Workshop was a success (see review in APA News). Part 2 will take place on June 27. In March, member Alex Senauke moderated a Tree Talk on firescaping for aesthetic pruners with Katherine Randolph and Greg Rubin, and in April we hosted a Coffee Talk and an “All Pros” event on business practices. On July 12, we’ll have a New Professionals panel on defining the scope of your business with APA members Joseph Nontanovan, Evelyn Borchert and Dina Blackwell. The focus will be on finding or defining a specialty. You can register here. We’re planning some Tree Talks related to art and design, as well as diagnosing plant problems. We're also planning New/All Professionals events on starting a business in a new place, accounting and taxes, and “war stories.”

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FINANCE COMMITTEE
Chair: Barbara Eaton, CAP #60

Committee members: Dina Blackwell, Nina Rizzo, Mark Mendell, Jeff Becerra, Helga Mahlmann (volunteer accountant)

In the first quarter of 2026, our main income was from membership dues, totaling a little over $4,000. The registration fees for the Advanced Fruit Tree Pruning Workshop in early March totaled $2,575, and our Tree Talk with Katherine Randolph and Greg Rubin on Firescaping brought in $265. We also received several CAP application fees, totaling over $500. Our CD account earned almost $350 in interest for the quarter. Our main first quarter expenses included a little over $3,100 in insurance, $1,625 in speaker and instructor fees for the Tree Talk and pruning workshop, about $850 in website related expenses, and about $730 in bookkeeping fees. We also placed a half-page ad in the Hillside Gardeners of Montclair Garden Tour booklet for $180, and spent $200 on thank-you gifts for departing board members and awards.

Anyone interested in joining the Finance Committee is welcome to email Barb at apatreasurer@aestheticprunersassociation.org.

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MEMBERSHIP COMMITTEE
Chair: Alex Senauke 

Committee members: Lara Miranda, Dina Blackwell

So far in 2026, we have gained nine new members. This is on par with our general quarterly gains in membership. However, this latest batch of members comes from a far wider geographic range than normal, from the U.K. to the midwest to Southern California.

This speaks to increasing interest in and awareness of aesthetic pruning as a practice. I look forward to our new members’ perspectives on how aesthetic pruning principles may apply in their area.

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NEWSLETTER COMMITTEE
Chair: Dina Blackwell, CAP #53 

Committee members: Barbara Eaton, Lara Miranda

We meet virtually to put together content for our quarterly publication. If you have any ideas for stories, or would like to write one yourself, please contact Dina at dinasgardens@gmail.com.

The Newsletter Committee would love to get photos from members for the opening image. It could be a seasonal photo that represents the time of year for that newsletter, or just a photo of a nice tree, someone pruning, or a set of before and after pruning shots.  

Also, we have a column called “Pruning Wisdom” where 2 to 4 pruners answer a question from members. We would love to hear any questions that you would like answered. All of the past newsletters can be viewed on the APA website under the Resources tab, APA Newsletter.

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PROMOTIONS COMMITTEE
Chair: Jeff Becerra

Committee members: Committee members: Dina Blackwell, Shirley Brewin, Jane Chua-Couzens, Barb Eaton, Melissa Hyams, Kristen Vetterlein

Below is our ad that we placed in the 2026 Hillside Gardeners of Montclair garden tour booklet:

Do you have a garden tour in your area that features aesthetic pruning or has an audience that would be interested in learning more about the benefits of hiring an APA Certified Aesthetic Pruner? Contact Jeff Becerra at jeffbecerra@sbcglobal.net to see if it’s a good fit for the APA to advertise.

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SACHIKO UMEHARA SCHOLARSHIP COMMITTEE
Chair: Randall Lee, CAP #3

Committee members: Melissa Hyams, Dina Blackwell

The APA’s Sachiko Umehara Scholarship of $500 will be awarded in May 2026. If you are a Landscape Horticulture student at Merritt College in Oakland, California, or know of one, AND are interested in becoming an aesthetic pruner, this scholarship can help with future educational expenses. The Scholarship Committee of Dina Blackwell, Melissa Hyams, and Randall Lee scored the two applications received in March and came up with the awardee. Pending APA Board approval, the recipient of the scholarship will be notified in May 2026. The person who receives the scholarship will be published in the next newsletter. If you would like to find out more information about the scholarship and/or donate to the Sachiko Umehara Scholarship Fund, please go to the Scholarships page of the APA website.