July 2023 NEWSLETTER

APA Upcoming Events

New Professionals Meeting

Building your Pruning Business: Marketing, business cards, webpages

Speaker: Evelyn Borchert

Sunday, August 27th, 2023

4:00pm - 6:00pm PDT

On Zoom

REGISTER

Attention new professionals! The APA’s own Evelyn Borchert will be hosting a “How To Grow Your Business” virtual meeting. Join us as she discusses marketing, business cards and webpages for your business on August 27th at 4pm via Zoom. Sign up on our new and updated website. 

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2023 APA Members-only Art of Pruning Garden Tour

*Save the date*

Sunday, October 8th, 2023

10:00am - 2:00pm

Oakland, CA

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Tree Talk

Pruning Maples with APA CAP Yuki Nara

*Save the date*

Sunday, November 12th, 2023

4:00pm - 6:00pm PST

On Zoom

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Tree Talk

Pruning Pines with APA CAP Bill Castellon

*Save the date*

Sunday, December 3rd, 2023

4:00pm - 6:00pm PST

On Zoom

Other Events

2023 ISA Annual International Conference

Monday - Wednesday, August 14 - 16, 2023

Albuquerque, NM

2023 ISA Annual International Conference

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ACRT Arborist Training - Basic Arborist class

Monday - Friday, September 11 - 15, 2023

Burlingame, CA

Basic Arborist

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Please send us information on events in your area that may interest other members so that we can include them in this column.

Tree Spotting

Ficus marophylla: Moreton Bay Fig
Ann Owen, CAP #63

While strolling along in Beverly Hills I had the pleasure of visiting this massive Ficus marophylla, also known as the Moreton Bay Fig Tree, one of the largest of its kind in the USA. This tree was planted sometime between 1910 and 1914 by the Rodeo Land and Water Company. With no visible irrigation for the 100+ year old tree, it is still somehow thriving, full of fruits and wonder. People of all ages were visiting and enjoying the beauty and shade of this tree, the young kids were climbing and swinging from the branches while others like myself just looked in awe. You can visit it at 1372 Park Way, Beverly Hills, CA 90210.

Have you seen any wonderful specimen trees on your walks?  If so, please consider sharing your photos in the newsletter: apa@aestheticprunersassocaiton.org. 

Pruning for Birds

The Question of Summer Nests
Allison Levin, CAP #34

That’s the question, of course. Should we still be looking for nests in July, August, and September?

Summer is a quiet time, in birdspeak. As nests are established, songbirds no longer want to broadcast their territory or availability; birdsong would draw undesired attention to their eggs and young. So, we might not realize that birds are around us!

But, yes. Active nests are out there, and some have yet to be built. Some species of birds raise sequential clutches of birds. For example, Mourning Doves, Northern Cardinals, and Robins typically have two to six broods, extending their nesting seasons to August and September. Hummingbirds are known for raising chicks in virtually every month of the year.

Other species begin nesting in summer, to ensure that the foods and nesting materials they require are available. (Fact I hadn’t known: American Goldfinches are vegetarian!)

Photos: Sarah Chan

The Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s NestWatch.org lets you search for common nesting birds by location, habitat (including “Town”), and even nest type. Robins, American Kestrels, and many more are nesting now, across the States.

So, this season’s Pruning for Birds column is simply a reminder to keep looking for nesting birds. As we pruners go through our schedule of clients’ trees, the seasons can blur. (If I’m still pruning maples, is it still spring?) We each go through so many gardens and yards, through a tangle of client priorities, new plantings, and long-term projects. And we revisit the same gardens every year, or sometimes every season. It can become confusing: have we looked for nests in this garden yet? Was that this year? Last season? Nest checks don’t take a lot of time (for instructions on how to do a nest checks, see Pruning for Birds, APA Newsletter April 2023), but they can bring so much joy—an opportunity to pause, a reminder that these trees and gardens that we care for are home to the birds of the future!

This is a useful FAQ about nests and baby birds.

APA Members-only Videos

Members can access video links to past APA Talks!

Such as: Tree Talks, APA Annual Meeting talks, and other archived presentations. Links are available on the APA Members page of the website. 

You must be logged in to your account to see the “Members" page.

Pruning Wisdom from Members

"When taking over a client from another pruner, how do you approach your communications with the client on the work and how do you create your pruning plan?"

When taking over a client from another pruner I usually hear from the pruner first rather than the client. So I start with them to determine their style of work and the overall approach they've used. How many times a year did they visit the garden, and what worked well for them? I try to get a sense of their long-term plan for the trees and the work they have done to date. I also check with the pruner for any insights on the client and how they've communicated with them. A recent interesting comment was "this person prefers to text, and you'll likely never meet them in person."

On the client side, I ask about their vision for the garden and incorporate that, along with the notes from the prior pruner, to establish my long-term plan. Then there are the more administrative pieces of asking the client if they have a preference for email or text, and if we can book future work in advance. Most clients, new ones included, seem to like the advance notice/reminder of my coming to visit. 

I’ve been fortunate that my fellow pruners have given me a heads up if/when they pass my name along. Typically, we go over the trees to be worked on, how often they worked on them, and any other important details I should know. I do the same when I refer someone to take over one of my clients.

When starting with any client, initially I like to have a phone call to talk about their continued tree care. I keep the notes I took from my colleague handy and let the client know that I will keep a similar schedule as their previous pruner. Before I prune, it’s preferable to meet with the homeowner and take a walk around the garden with them and reiterate the plan, informing them I may adjust the schedule depending on the tree’s needs and the year’s weather conditions. Going forward, I schedule clients via email.

Welcome New APA Members

Associate Members
Nancy Christensen- Alameda, CA
Sarah Cornwell- Palo Alto, CA
David Michaud- Califon, NJ

Affiliate Members
Lisa Ferrell- Kirkland, WA
Bill Hibler- Seattle, WA
Patricia Litton- Oakland, CA
Marilyn Saarni- Richmond, CA
Susan Voss- Gresham, OR

Student Members
Julie Carr- Portola Valley, CA
Cydne Casper- Portland, OR
Elishia Catalano- Aloha, OR
Rachel Main- Oakland, CA
Luis Jacob Martinez- San Jose, CA
Jenny Rahlf
Alex Senauke- Berkeley, CA
Lucia Toman- Summerland, CA
Beatrice Zelenko- Los Altos, CA

Fruit is the Essence

Mark Mendell, CAP #62

2023 APA Fruit Tree Pruning Workshop: A Two-Day Virtual & Hands-On Exploration

In the last week of June, the APA sponsored an intensive fruit tree pruning workshop, including one day of virtual presentations and one day of hands-on pruning at a large farm in Petaluma. The event was popular, highly educational, and by all accounts very successful.

The idea was to provide education and experience for the aesthetic pruning community on the  practical aspects of pruning fruit trees in the summer. The many kinds of fruit trees each may need a different approach to optimize fruit production, which might differ from the purely aesthetic approach to pruning the tree for an attractive form. Traditional fruit tree pruning and aesthetic pruning do have common goals of maintaining tree health, but then they can diverge. To present both approaches, the workshop featured presentations from an experienced fruit tree pruner and an APA Certified Aesthetic Pruner®.

The first day, Saturday, June 24, offered 4 hours of virtual presentations. First was a presentation by APA CAP Pete Churgel on The Essence of Fruit Trees, focusing on aesthetics for pruning fruit trees and running briefly through many types of fruiting trees. This was followed by three talks by Wendy Krupnick, an experienced fruit tree pruner and instructor, that provided an enormous amount of information on specific fruit tree types, growth patterns and pruning considerations. Her three talks were divided among three categories of fruit trees: pomes (apples, pears, Asian pears), stone fruits, and other kinds of fruit trees (e.g. figs, persimmons, and pomegranates). A Zoom recording link was made available to attendees after the class, accessible for 2 weeks. This day of Zoom sessions was presented as both a standalone class and as part of the 2-day intensive workshop.

The second day, Sunday, June 25, was a hands-on pruning workshop held at the remarkable Wingbeats Farm in Petaluma, owned by Elaine and Bob Carlson. (Attendees for this day were limited to 25 people who had also participated in the previous day’s virtual talks.) A property of perhaps 5 to 10 acres, this farm has at least 100 fruiting trees. After coffee, pastries, and a chance to walk around the farm, the day started with introductory presentations by Wendy Krupnick and APA CAP Allison Levin. The group of 25 attendees then split into 3 groups and set off into the orchard  to prune. Wendy and Allison rotated among the groups to instruct, aided by APA professional pruners Evelyn Borchert, Jason Welsh, and Mark Mendell as teaching assistants. Each group had opportunities during their multiple hours of pruning to work on a variety of fruit tree types, including plums, peaches, apples, pears, figs, pomegranates, and one cherry. There was ample opportunity to get advice from Wendy, Allison, the three assistants, and fellow attendees as questions came up, such as how much to prune in summer vs. winter, how much to lower the heights of the trees, and how to deal with suspected tree diseases. People agreed that this was an excellent workshop that we should repeat in the future.

Afterwards, some of the group went on a tour of the premises led by Elaine Carlson, one of the farm’s owners. The land also hosts multiple full-size nut trees, vegetable plots, and a sizable area of native plantings. We learned about the history of the farm – how they had planted about 100 fruit trees over the more than 30 years they’ve owned the farm, trying to plant as many varieties as possible, and how they have developed local markets for their fruit and produce. Because maintaining the extensive plantings is challenging, they really welcomed the pruning our workshop provided. It was definitely a win-win situation.

APA News

Melissa Hyams, CAP #55

2023 APA Members-only Art of Pruning Garden Tour

The 2023 APA Members-only Art of Pruning Garden Tour is our 5th garden tour. It has been four long years since our last garden tour, so we wanted to do something special for our members. The tour will be held Saturday, October 8th from 10am-2pm. The four gardens showcase the pruning of Nancy Brown, Bill Castellon, Eric King and Bruce Thompson. Save the date and keep your eyes on your APA email; the details of the tour will be sent to you via email nearer the time.

The tour gardens are an eclectic mix of Japanesque and natural landscaping, cozy and meandering spaces, and both styled and natural pruning. Three of the four gardens pruned by Bill, Nancy and Bruce, respectively, were created recently by garden designer and APA Certified Aesthetic Pruner® Bill Castellon, incorporating his gorgeous, evocative rock placement. The oldest garden, pruned by Eric King, is the home and tea garden of Homei Iseyama that he created in 1950. Homei Iseyama was one of San Francisco’s earliest bonsai teachers and mentors to many of the region’s bonsai masters.

We want to express our gratitude to our hosts for inviting us to enjoy their gardens. Thank you to Bronya Feldman, Gary Barg and Ross Jackson, Jason Graham and Kim Austin, and Mark and Eleana Wohlforth. In these gardens, Nancy, Bill and Bruce beautifully prune a wide variety of deciduous and evergreen, coniferous and broadleaf trees and shrubs, including Japanese maple, magnolia, redbud, ginkgo, crepe myrtle, Vireya rhododendron, camellia, pieris, Japanese black pine, Monterey cypress and blue spruce, to name a few.

In Bronya’s garden, Nancy prunes the focal point trees that lead your eye down through the sloping garden and out to the bay among scattered stones and pooling water, through a lush perennial garden. In Gary and Ross’s garden, Bill has placed stacked stone to create an intimate space off an otherwise public sidewalk. One can imagine Bill’s hand in training the young Japanese maples, ginkgo and Vireya rhododendron to create a space with just the right combination of light and shadow, texture and structure and retreat and welcoming. In Homei’s garden, now home to Jason and Kim, you enter the back garden bowing your head as you pass under the magnolia. Eric prunes this garden of contrast and textures: graceful lime green magnolia branches against a coarse upright blue spruce; a trio of spiraling Japanese black pines edging a stone patio; and a group of twenty foot Japanese maples whose scarred, sinuous trunks and gnarled roots reflect in the placid waters of the small pond. A hillside of creeping red fescue, stone paths and a dry creek are the setting for the many trees Bruce prunes in the meandering woodland garden of Mark and Eleana.

Committee Chair Reports

CRAFT STANDARDS COMMITTEE
Interim Chair Randall Lee, CAP #03:

Committee members: Dina Blackwell, Grant Foerster, Walt Fujii, Maryann Lewis, Judy Thomas.

Starting in January 2023, the Committee has focused its energy developing training for Test Administrators (TAs) of the virtual CAP Test, reviewing scoring of the portfolio and 3-part CAP Test, and developing a protocol for applicants whose portfolio did not pass.

The Committee is looking for more TAs, especially certified members from different regions of the US. We will continue training new and experienced TAs on the new CAP testing process.

If you would like to become an APA Certified Aesthetic Pruner® (CAP), please send in your application by September 1, 2023 to qualify for the fall testing period. We highly recommend joining the CAP Mentoring group for help with your portfolio and preparing for the 3-part CAP Test.

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EDUCATION COMMITTEE
Co-chair Lara Miranda, CAP #65: 

Committee members: Jane Chua-Couzens, Judy Thomas, Evelyn Borchert, Joe Ehrmann, Nicole LaPlante, Lara Miranda, Grant Foerster, Allison Levin, Ann Owen.

The Education Committee now has two subcommittees: a New Professionals subcommittee and a Tree Talk subcommittee. We continue to focus on creating useful and informative talks for our members! Please contact us at any time through the APA email to give suggestions, or if you’d like to join! We meet via zoom on a monthly basis. Hope to see you there!

We are always looking for new ideas from our members on what you'd like to learn more about and discuss! Share your ideas with us! Send any thoughts or comments to LMPruning@gmail.com, and see you at the next New Pros or Tree Talk.

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FINANCE COMMITTEE
Chair Barbara Eaton, Treasurer, CAP #60: 

Committee members: Lara Miranda, APA President; Dina Blackwell, APA Board Member; Melissa Hyams; Randall Lee; Shivawn Layne, Accountant; Helga Mahlmann, former Accountant.

The majority of the APA’s second quarter income came from 3 well-attended educational events: a Tree Walk with Matthew Hughes at the UC Botanical Garden, Chris Ingram’s Virtual Tree Talk on “20 Years of Experience Pruning Japanese Maples,” and the APA’s two-day Fruit Tree Pruning Intensive, which alone netted over $2,000 (after expenses). Our greatest second quarter expenses were related to the new APA website and the Fruit Tree Pruning Intensive. Earlier this year, the board approved opening a 9-month CD account so that some of the funds in our bank account could start earning more interest. We opened a CD account in early June, and the board will consider how best to reinvest the interest earned—either in the Sachiko Umehara Scholarship or in promoting & developing our educational programs. Once again, Grant Foerster’s mom Jeanne generously volunteered her time and expertise to complete an audit of our 2022 finances. Thank you, Jeanne!

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MEMBERSHIP COMMITTEE
Chair Denise Mason, CAP #61: 

Committee members: Dina Blackwell, Evelyn Borchert, Maryann Lewis.

April - June 2023:  168 active members, including 15 new members. New members consist of:
4 Affiliate
2 Associates
9 Students

Geographical distribution of new members:
11 from California (Bay Area)
3 from Oregon
1 from Washington

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PROMOTIONS COMMITTEE
Chair Jeff Becerra: 

Committee members: Dina Blackwell, Jane Chua-Couzens, Barb Eaton, Melissa Hyams, Nina Rizzo.

The APA promotions committee has been helping get the word out for recent events like the fruit tree intensive and our tree talks. The APA has been in touch with NAJGA, the North American Japanese Garden Association, about a sponsorship for their 2024 conference taking place in Texas in March 2024. The APA will be the sole sponsor of their canvas bags as a way to advertise the APA on a more national level. The promotions committee is organizing a garden tour for members only for October 8th, 2023. See Melissa's article for more details.

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WEBSITE COMMITTEE
Chair Jeff Kowalski: 

Committee members: Dina Blackwell, Melissa Hyams, Jeff Kowalski, Lara Miranda

We hope you've been enjoying the new website, which has been active since early May.  We've seen 16 new members join since then, and 13 have renewed their membership via the new site.  Thanks to all of you who have renewed on the new site, or on the old one to keep your membership current.  We still have 69 accounts whose dues have lapsed.  You can check your account status, or join here: https://www.aestheticprunersassociation.org/sign-in#myaccount.

We've posted several events since the new website went live.  Some users have encountered some trouble signing up for events that offered both member and non-member pricing.  This can occur if you are a member lapsed in your dues, which means you are "stuck in the middle", neither eligible for member pricing because your account is past-due, nor for non-member pricing because you're signed in.  The easiest solution (and the one we encourage!) is to come up-to-date on your dues.  If you don't intend to continue your membership, you can clear your browser cookies to forget your membership, or use your private/incognito browsing mode to prevent your membership cookies from making their way to the website.

The member forum is active at https://www.aestheticprunersassociation.org/member-forum.  We've adjusted the forum so that it will automatically send you email about new topics, as well as follow-ups to topics you've posted.  If you would like to alter your preferences, right-click on your initials at the far right of the forum menu (mid-way down the forum webpage) and select "Settings" to edit those preferences.

The website committee meets as needed. If you'd like to help/contribute to the website, please contact Jeff at jeff.kowalski@gmail.com.