“I got into tree care mostly because I liked climbing trees,” Travis Wellner said when we reached him by telephone at a jobsite in Northern Wisconsin. Both founder and owner of Wellner Arboriculture, the Stanley-Boyd alumnus from the Class of 2012 started on his career path while attending college classes at UW-Stevens Point, where he double majored in Forest Management and Urban Forestry. While there, he took a class entitled “Introduction to Tree Climbing,” complete with ropes and harnesses and taught by industry professionals—in other words, not just kid’s play. Along with safe and professional tree climbing, Wellner’s formal education in tree science included learning the biology of how trees grow, as well as their different disease and insect issues.

After graduating from UWStevens Point, Wellner started his career with The Davey Tree Expert Company in Minneapolis, where he had completed an internship during his schooling, before going on to start his own local business where he offers everything from pruning and removal trees/shrubs to disease management and stump grinding. When busy working on the tree care circuit, Wellner said, most of his practice is related to trees located in residential areas, involving ropes and pulleys to mitigate hazards like power lines or nearby building damage— which brings up the question: What is “arboriculture?”

“Arboriculture is the care and cultivation of an individual tree or shrub,” Wellner said, whether that includes pruning or overall health care. When it comes to individual tree care practice, there are two main types of diseases he said: insect and fungal. Trees with insect problems will usually demonstrate “systemic dieback,” with dead wood in the tree canopy and exit holes for the bugs. Fungal tree diseases, in contrast, will tend to display discoloration and early leaf drop—which leads into another question: when to cut down and when to mend?

“Most of the time you should consider removing a tree when the liability of the tree standing outweighs the benefits the tree brings to your property,” Wellner said, but added that there, “are lots of times you don’t have to remove a tree, you just have to mitigate the risk,” he said. Saying that he wasn’t out to sell tree work or removals, Wellner shared that a big part of his job was teaching people how to take care of their trees so they didn’t need to be removed. “I don’t charge for appointments,” the certified local arborist said of consultation. “My goal is to educate homeowners and clients on the best tree care practices for their landscapes. At the conclusion of an appointment I work with the client on their tree care options, whether it’s pruning, removal, or plant health care.” So how can one get ahold of Wellner Arboriculture?

“People can read or subscribe to the Stanley Republican,” Wellner said, saying that he has a running ad with the local newspaper. In addition, he also has a local Facebook business page that interested parties can contact him through. Phone or email generally works best, he said.