Tree doc is on call

Midland native Arlen Fisher likens himself to a doctor. But unlike a medical doctor, Fisher's patients are trees, and they can't tell him what's ailing them.

The tree doctor - or more specifically, a certified consulting arborist - diagnoses sick trees and decides on a course of treatment. With 6,500 regular clients in Midland and a recent move to San Angelo to expand his business here, there doesn't seem to be a shortage of sick trees.

"The biggest thing is weed killer - to try to save a tree that's ingested weed killer," Fisher said.

Fisher said many of the team's treatments are done in their own yards on what they call their test trees.

"You get to find out exactly which trees respond to what," he said. "We've found pretty much the magic cure."
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