Flying through its first year being Arb approved, The Tree Doctors is setting the standard for good practice while contributing to the industry. Based in the West Midlands, the company stretches its services to areas such as Birmingham, Stourbridge and Staffordshire. Completing hedge maintenance, stump grinding, felling and pruning jobs, there is one project in particular that sparked some interest. 

Joined by a videographer friend, managing director William Boulton led a local authority job, topped the Arb in Action, in association with Outwear, competition with shots of the project. One of the biggest trees in the borough was suffering from root fungal disease, Kretzschmaria and Ganoderma, which was deemed  unsafe to the area. 

“The project was put together pretty sharpish, because it was located next to a children’s play area,” explains Boulton. Using the biggest possible crane that would be viable, the nine-man team completed the removal in a day. “Due to the size of the tree, some of it had to be rigged because the crane couldn’t reach the top of the canopy,” he adds.

The videographer joins The Tree Doctors team frequently. With media on the rise across the whole industry, from the recent release of a new docuseries and viral videos from influencers such as @benoftheforest, the company jumps into media as a form of accessibility and representation. “As someone who is passionate about the arb industry and tree work, I think it’s nice to look back and see the work we’ve done in the past. We get to show other people what we can do, and it brings a sense of enjoyment into it, too,” Boulton explains. 

What started out as a small business with one landrover and a chipper, “we’ve slowly crept up to reaching the 13-14 year mark, where we now do some big scale work,” Boulton says. He adds:

“We're a tight group of lads who have worked together for years. It's our first year of being Arb approved, so we’re trying to set standards and create good industry practice, and hopefully our work reflects this.”

Intent on remaining a small team, Boulton says, “we’re happy as we are, we don’t want to lose quality.” Thriving on that quality over quantity ethos, he talks about the importance of upskilling, which is a major focus for both Boulton and the company. “it's just to try and make the industry as safe as we can,” he explains, which is reflected in organised upskilling days, run in sponsorship with companies such as Först and Tree Kit.

“We try to encourage other companies to jump on the wagon. You can have fun but still refresh your brain with additional training so that you don't become complacent with things like safety.”

Joined by a videographer, The Tree Doctors hopes to share the importance of safety and upskilling with followers, friends and beyond via social media.

Watch The Tree Doctors' winning entry here.

Enter the latest round of Arb in Action, in association with Outwear, by emailing proarbeditor@eljays44.com.