We were happy to participate in two community service events last week. The first was a pruning day at the Vilas Zoo. Dane County arborist, Adam Alves, organized a group of volunteer arborists to prune trees along the busiest areas of the Zoo. UTA joined other area arborists to remove hazardous deadwood and elevate the low limbs over paths and roadways. As an added perk, we got to feed crackers to the giraffees!

A couple days later we were across Lake Wingra at the UW-Arboretum for the Wisconsin Arborist Association “Day of Service.” This time a group of 30-40 arborists from all over the state joined together  to prune many of the trees in the Longnecker Gardens. We had the privilege of pruning a rare White Pine/Himalayan Pine hybrid that was damaged by heavy snow, among other trees. The weather was cold, but the sun was out, making for a pleasant day of tree climbing!