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."

Fisher started a landscaping business fresh out of high school more than two decades ago.

Customers frequently had problems with their trees, and Fisher said his business grew frustrated with not being able to definitively answer their tree-related questions.

"We wanted to give people the right answer instead of the guessing game," he said. "We wanted to do something and do it right."

That's when Fisher discovered the International Society of Arboriculture.

"Once we got with those guys, we started getting more excited about getting certified," Fisher said. "And once we got certified, that's all we do.

"It's a peaceful business, working with trees all day."

Much like the trees he doctors, Fisher said his work helps him thrive.

"You can get the degree and go out and start working and if you're into it, you learn something new every day and you get better and better," he said. "I like to think I'm the best, but every day I get better."

Standard-Times: Is being an arborist more lucrative than landscaping?

Fisher: As it turns out it is more lucrative. It took 15 years, but once the name got out and word got out, then yeah it's lucrative.

Why did you pick San Angelo and Midland as places to have your business?

I was born and raised in Midland and right after I graduated high school in 1985 we started a landscaping business there, and we grew to a pretty good size. We were often called to the Mertzon, San Angelo area. Then we found the water and we thought, 'This would be a good move to build a house down there and move to San Angelo.' One of my business partners is taking over the Midland office, and I'm taking over the San Angelo office.

Was San Angelo lacking an arborist?

We're the first ones. We're the only certified consulting arborists in the region.

How did you build up your Midland business and how do you plan to build up your San Angelo business?

We have programs pretty much like the pest control companies do. Ours aren't necessarily on the quarter, but some people just say, 'Come out one time a year,' and some people that say six times a year. Our standard programs are two, four, and six visits throughout the year.

How we plan on building like we did in Midland is word of mouth. Our trucks are highly visible and being active with the Better Business Bureau, we like to socialize there and the Chamber of Commerce. You get to meet a lot of people. Our biggest and best business push is word of mouth.

You mentioned your devotion to the Better Business Bureau. How has it kept your business accountable?

I am such a believer in the Better Business Bureau. I've been on the board for years. Consumers need to hire people that are Better Business Bureau members. That guarantees them security in many ways. It gives (consumers) someone to turn to. You don't get that anywhere else.

I have bragging rights. I've been a member for many, many years. In Midland, we were servicing 30 to 40 properties a day, and we have zero complaints. Any business out there is going to get a complaint, and we just didn't get a complaint.

Do you have any plans to expand to other cities?

It's taken me 23 years to grow Midland to the size that it is, and it enabled me to branch off. I think I'd be an old man by the time I got 23 years in San Angelo. I think this is my last stop. I still service from El Paso to Dallas. We do a lot in Abilene, travel around, get calls. But this will be our home base here.

What kinds of services does your business offer?

We do micro-injection. There's also macro injections. It's like giving the tree an IV. It goes directly into the bloodstream of the tree. It's for immediate response type activity. The micro is a little bit less chemical that you put in a tree, and macro injection goes off the basis that the tree needs a lot more fluid. It can be for insects, for fungus or disease, nutrient deficiencies.

We do systemic insecticide, and that just means the chemical itself has a systemic ability, which means it carries through the whole tree. It poisons the feeding zone these bugs are eating on. We do grafting, which is a lost art. It's all but gone at this point. We do a lot of insurance calls when vehicles hit trees. We're with Allstate and State Farm so when they get calls through out the region we respond to that.

Why are healthy trees important?

Just recently we read that in Texas trees can add as much as 20 percent to the value of a home. You look at it that way and that's a lot of gain. You get shade, which lowers your air conditioning bill, you get protection from the elements, not to mention the sheer beauty of it.

Around here, we don't have a lot trees, and what we do have we tend to take care of it, and that's why our business has flourished.

Source: gosanangelo.com

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