The Expedition

After completing six years of formal qualifications and training we started this business and embarked on a three year expedition around Australia to broaden our tree species knowledge.

We spent time pruning in the gardens and hiking in the national parks of the Southern Highlands in NSW, the Atherton Tablelands of Queensland, the North West of Tasmania, South Gippsland in Victoria, the Adelaide Hills of South Australia and the Perth Hills of Western Australia. We visited regional botanic gardens, met with specialists in allied professions, visited tree nurseries and hiked to see the trees we work with in their native habitat.

Over the course of this journey we developed a national perspective on the state of tree care with species specific knowledge and the practical skills to engage in tree species selection, succession tree planning and veteran tree management for Australia’s private and public gardens.

Now that the expedition has come to an end we've settled down in Nick's hometown of Inverloch, VIC and return each winter to Amanda’s family home base in WA to attend to the trees of our clients in the Perth Hills and South West of WA.

WHAT WE LEARNED

 

Trees in the Wild

We wanted to go back to source. To see the trees we cultivate in our streets and gardens growing in the ecology they’re originally from.

It’s been helpful to grasp the soil profile, rainfall depth and ecology to which each tree species is adapted.

Seeing cultivated trees back in the wild is the only way to glimpse how the tree species uniquely expresses itself in nature and how that form may differ to how we prune it to look in an urban context.

Tree Nurseries

What’s the point of developing deep tree species knowledge if we don’t have an accurate understanding of what tree species are genuinely available from nurseries?

For this reason we dropped pins on every interesting looking tree nursery and visited them on our way around the nation.

Regional Botanic Gardens of Australia

We investigated the ways in which Australia’s regional botanic gardens are practically managing their trees and approaching tree species selection for the future.

Met with Allied Professionals

We wanted to be influenced by more experienced tree care practitioners. We met with senior arborists, botanists, gardeners, landscape designers, horticulturists and curators. We were interested in how all of these disciplines currently intersect and the potential to help each other.