ATC, LLC

08/29/2026

Mulching is one of the simplest ways to improve tree health in the long-term. Mulch retains moisture, moderates soil temperatures, prevents damage from mowing equipment & slowly releases nutrients and improves soil as it breaks down over time.

The first image is an excavation of an eight year old mulch bed. The original wood chips have decomposed and become dark, nutrient rich soil. Nutrient availability is one of the primary limiting factors to tree size & health.

Photo two is an excellent example of mulching out to the drip line. Another benefit of large mulch rings is less turf to maintain. This saves not only time but also money.

W**d fabric placed under mulch restricts water & air movement & creates a barrier between decomposing material and roots below. Rock mulch does not decompose & absorbs heat, leading to hard, lifeless soil over time.

08/27/2026

Pruning is the most overused & least understood component of plant health care. The most important pruning happens in the first decade after establishment. Structural pruning helps to develop strong, storm resilient architecture and prevents future conflicts with human activity. Ideally, pruning in mature trees should be confined to managing loads & removing dead limbs.

Every cut is a wound & potential entry point for disease & decay organisms. Understanding how a tree species responds & its ability to compartmentalize, or seal off, wounds is vital. Cottonwood are notoriously poor compartmentalizers. In my years working with the cottonwood in Lander City Park I noted that nearly every cavity was the result of a previous pruning cut.

When working with trees arborists need to take into account not only the immediate impact of their cuts but, more importantly, what impact will the work have 10 or 20 years in the future.

08/26/2026

Topping is the practice of making arbitrary heading cuts in an attempt to reduce the size of a tree. It is considered the most harmful tree trimming technique & has not been an approved practice for decades.

Branches are autonomous, they attain all the energy they need through photosynthesis, independent of the remainder of the tree. Heading cuts literally starve the branch, leading to dieback to a larger lateral limb or a flush of sprout growth to replace lost canopy. Sprouts are not attached as firmly as the original limb & the end result is an even larger tree more prone to breakage in wind or heavy snow load.

If this were an acceptable pruning practice, you would see work like this in parks, cemeteries, boulevards, golf courses, etc. Topping is the hallmark of an uneducated, amateur tree cutter.

https://www.treesaregood.org/Portals/0/TreesAreGood_Why%20Topping%20Hurts_0321.pdf

08/26/2026

08/24/2026

Two fungal diseases are responsible for significant splotches & dark patches on leaves of cottonwood and aspen in Southern Wyoming; Marssonina & Septoria leaf fungus.

These diseases rarely cause any permanent tree damage. Because these fungi overwinter on fallen leaves infected the previous year, the best management option is sanitation. Get rid of diseased material by raking up and disposing of infected leaves & twigs.

08/20/2026

Large honey locust removal for the Aspen House Restaurant. This tree suffered a massive branch failure a week earlier & was subject to years of side trimming for utility clearance. Unfortunately, the remaining canopy was severely unbalanced & overhanging the restaurant. The tree was beyond the client’s acceptable level of risk & had no future, sandwiched between the structure & the three-phase primary distribution lines.

08/20/2026

Over 90% of Wyoming soils are alkaline. High soil pH locks up vital nutrients like iron & manganese, making them unavailable to plants, leading to yellowing of foliage, or chlorosis. Interveinal chlorosis, where leaves turn yellow but veins stay green, is indicative of iron deficiency.

Micronutrient deficiencies are often visible in older needles of spruce first as the tree moves these mobile nutrients internally to support current-season shoots.

Soil & foliar testing can accurately identify specific nutrient deficiencies & advise an appropriate plant health care program.

08/05/2026

Removing trees for the Wyoming State Penitentiary

07/27/2026

Declining spruce removal. Although drought stress certainly played a role, this tree had significant girdling roots. We have identified girdling roots on multiple spruce in this neighborhood, pointing towards poor planting practices of containerized trees decades ago.

07/20/2026

I-Tree MyTree is a free web-based tool designed to translate peer reviewed scientific research into an easy to use platform that allows anyone to calculate the environmental & economic benefits of individual trees. Check it out!

https://mytree.itreetools.org/ #/

Keep in mind this is ecosystem value, not market value. Monetary value can be calculated by professional arborists trained in tree & plant appraisal.