Tree Risk Evaluation & Management
Our technicians use state of the art evaluation tools to assess trees, including the Resistograph Drill. Our approach is intended to extend the life of valuable trees and to clearly identify and describe those that are of concern. Consider creating a Snag Tree instead of removal.

Tree Protection For Construction Sites
We provide construction details, advice, and services to protect trees during construction projects.

Vegetation Inventory & Planning
Our services include tree-related policy development and implementation, tree inventory, staff training, and hazard tree risk management programs.

Sustainable Landscape Design and Natural Area Restoration
We design and help implement plans for retaining and restoring native natural areas and drought tolerant, low-maintenance landscapes for commercial or residential properties.

Tree Valuation & Appraisal
We provide accurate valuations and appraisals of trees and plants for insurance claims or legal cases.

Selected Treatments: Cambistat & Zytect
We offer select applications to treat trees. One is Cambistat, a tree growth regulator. It gently slows the growth of trees, allowing the tree to redirect some of its energy from canopy growth to fibrous root production and stored energy. We also offer a systemic based insecticide, Zytect (Matecloprid) if environmental controls are not sufficient.  Contact us for more information and free estimates.  

Expert Witness Services
Our Principal Consultant, Scott D. Baker, has Expert Witness training through the American Society of Consulting Arborists' Consulting Academy, as well as ASCA's Registered Consulting Arborist (RCA) designation. Scott has extensive experience as a consultant in legal cases, as well as experience testifying in court.

Arboriculture Training & Education
Training and education on topics such as Tree Diagnostics, Construction with Trees in Mind, Tree Biology and Anatomy, Tree Climbing Workshops. This includes expertise in special situations, such as Treehouses.

Our technicians use state of the art evaluation tools, including the Resistograph Drill, to assess trees. Our approach is intended to save valuable trees and to clearly identify and describe those that are of concern.

These large old trees posed potential risk for the new home. They are also irreplaceable trees of great value. Resistograph testing of key parts of the tree and analysis of the potential risk of failure allows the owner to make an informed decision of how to manage the tree.

Key Benefits

Accurate measurement of tree defects such as decay or cracking.

Make cost-efficient decisions to safely manage trees.

Preserve old trees longer with higher levels of safety.

Risk management options are customized to each situation.

Tree Solutions provides construction details, advice, and services to protect trees during construction projects. We understand how difficult it is to put mature trees through a major change of environment and provide services to increase success.  

This specimen, Zelkova serrata, was valued at $75,000.00. During a year of construction it had its root zone radically impacted by the construction of the new Fischer Pavilion at Seattle Center.

Tree Solutions worked with the Seattle Center Staff and the project team, beginning in the planning stages, to provide specifications for tree preservation. Later we worked closely with the construction Superintendent Mike Levinson...yes that is Mike in the ditch.

Our ability to communicate what is needed to successfully save trees involves the critical people on the job. We're on site at critical times to assist in tree preservation has helped preserve these and many other unique trees for the future.

Key Benefits:

Realistic tree preservation planning reduces controversy over trees and increases successful tree retention.

Tree preservation is cost efficient. A little planning and supervision goes a long way.

Living trees add value to completed projects and provide great public relations opportunities.

Tree Protection Starts with planning.

Guidelines for successful tree protection on a development site are given in Scott Baker's article,

"How to Keep Development from Killing Trees: Some Things Architects Need to Know" in the Seattle Daily Journal of Commerce, A & E Perspectives, November 20, 2003, Page 11.

Our services include tree-related policy development and implementation, tree inventory, staff training, and hazard tree risk management programs.

Key Benefits:

Know what you've got!  Knowledge of the number, size, species, condition, and value of the trees in your care is vital in municipal planning and budgeting processes.

Reduce the risk from hazardous trees while avoiding unnecessary removal costs.

Meet the needs of the community with tree policies and management plans that work.

Portfolio: Woodland Park Vegetation Management Plan, City of Bainbridge Waterfront Park

Sustainable Landscape Design and Natural Area Restoration

Sustainable Landscape Design

Tree Solutions is ready and willing to take your tree protection project to the next phase... incorporating those mature arboreal icons into your finished landscape.   We feel it is important to respect the root zone of the trees you took the effort to protect, as you establish new planting beds. Choosing plants that will look good and perform well, while not competing with your trees for water and nutrients, will help your trees recover from construction impacts.

We are interested in working with both commercial and residential landscapes, whether they be additions, renovations or new construction. We place emphasis on utilizing species native to the Pacific northwest, along with appropriate non-native trees, shrubs and perennials that will be drought resistant and low maintenance.  

We can recommend tree species that will frame your view of the Cascades, eliminate your view of your neighbor, or a small tree to shade your deck.

Stunning fall color? Check.

Wildlife outside your front door? Check.

A low maintenance landscape consistent with its environs? Check.

Added value to your property? Check.

We look forward to helping you with a planting plan, a trail system, or vehicle circulation while respecting the trees and natural environment they are under. We strive to extend your living space, privacy, and clean air just outside your doorstep.

Natural Area Restoration

We are blessed with a natural resource of amazing value here in the northwest.   Our native conifers, flowering dogwoods, bird-friendly elderberry and resilient sword ferns make up layers of vegetation that folks in other parts of the U.S. lust after.

If you are lucky enough to own land that has not been scraped, paved or otherwise developed, or has been mapped by your local municipality as an Environmentally Critical Area, because it is located on a steep slope or near a wetland, consider letting us help you preserve and enhance your remnant forest with a Vegetation Management Plan.  

If your trees are covered with invasive species like English Ivy or Scotch broom, Tree Solutions will I.D. your problem plants, suggest natives that will help limit erosion and stabilize slopes. We can provide native plant combinations that suit your site, (sun or shade...wet or dry?) and even work directly with you to teach effective methods of invasive control, proper planting protocols, and bioengineering techniques to help new trees, shrubs and under-story plants rejuvenate your urban forest. Planting trees to provide a future canopy in our concrete jungle will contribute to a living legacy you can preserve for your children.

In situations where trees or landscape is damaged or destroyed, an accurate valuation of the loss is critical to resolution of legal claims.

For valuable collections of trees, a record of the condition and value of the individual plants allows clear communication with insurance adjusters when a collection is damaged.

We use the accepted methods for tree appraisal and valuation set forth in the Council of Tree and Landscape Appraisers' Guide for Plant Appraisal to calculate plant value.

Our knowledge of trees and experience in the real estate and development industry gives us the ability to define value and defend our numbers with facts.

Key Benefits:

Reasonable values result in resolution of claims.

Experience and training in appraisal technique and theory makes our result credible.

Careful field work, including forensic analysis to identify damage, is one of our strengths.

Control the size of your trees with Cambistat™

Key Benefits:

Growth Reduction. Gently slows growth of trees up to 60% over a 3-year period.

Improved Resistance to Insects, Disease, Drought, and Heat. Increases tree’s ability to absorb minerals and water and form protective barriers against disease.

Treatment for Declining Trees. Redirects energy from canopy growth to roots and defense systems.

Maintains Tree Size and Overall Appearance. Useful for trees in small planting zones and areas with views.

Reduces pruning, maintenance, and removal costs.

More information on Cambistat™ and growth regulators can be found at www.rainbowscivance.com

Click HERE to contact us for pricing and to find out if Cambistat™ is right for your situation.

An Expert Witness is allowed to give opinions in a trial or hearing due to specialized knowledge in a scientific or technical field; in this case, the field of arboriculture. A non-expert witness is otherwise required to present testimony based only on personal knowledge, such as that seen or heard.

What an Expert Witness can do:

Provide an appraisal of a tree that has been damaged or removed.

Evaluate a tree for structural defects, disease, or decay and assess the risk potential.

Provide factual information on a tree species and standard arboricultural practices.

Produce technical written reports with documentation.

Review and evaluate existing documentation.

Advise your attorney of relevant facts, discrepancies, or opinions.

Present verbal or written evidence in the case in a deposition or hearing.

Present an expert opinion in a dispute resolution setting, such as a trial or hearing.

The role of an Expert Witness is not to “take sides” or argue your case.  Please contact an attorney for legal advice and advocacy. 

Our Principal Consultant, Scott D. Baker, has Expert Witness training through the American Society of Consulting Arborists’ Consulting Academy, as well as ASCA’s Registered Consulting Arborist (RCA) designation.  Scott has extensive experience as a consultant in legal cases. Many of our clients have been able to settle before going to trial; however, in the cases that have gone to trial, Scott has proven himself to be articulate and knowledgeable under cross-examination.

Before agreeing to act as an expert witness, Scott will want to discuss your situation with you or your attorney. Click here to contact us for Expert Witness services. 

Examples of Expert Witness cases:

A neighbor admits to cutting a tree on another’s property, but says the tree was hazardous. 

A neighbor gets permission to cut a tree, but then the tree owner asks for a high replacement value of that tree.

Did poor tree protection during construction damage the tree, causing it to fail and damage the house?

The city is widening the road in front of a house, removing a row of 100-year-old trees, for which they will compensate the owner $1,000. The owner feels the trees are worth much more than that.

More information about Expert Consulting Arborists can be found at the ASCA website: www.asca-consultants.org.

Scott D. Baker is an experienced public speaker. His broad knowledge and ability to engage an audience is widely acknowledged. Scott’s presentations cover a variety of cutting-edge subjects relating to trees and urban ecology. Scott offers the prepared talks listed below. He is also happy to consider a variety of discussion topics as requested to suit your event. Most talks can be adjusted to suit time limits as necessary.

Seeing the Forest and the Trees
Scott discusses applying multi-disciplinary knowledge to tree management in urban settings. Includes an introduction to reading blueprints and insight as to how an arborist can integrate with a construction project team 2 hours.

Growing A Greener City
A college-level talk on multi-disciplinary issues of tree management in urban settings. Discusses the benefits of urban forests, issues of building infrastructure, political issues, and new technologies for growing urban trees. 1 hour.

The Tree as an Active Biologic Structure
This talk presents new knowledge in the field of arboriculture, including the work of Dr.Claus Mattheck, Dr. Tom Smiley, Dr. Kim Coder and other tree researchers. The presentation can be structured for plant professionals or the public. 45 minutes up to half day.

Tree Basics
An introduction to tree biology using Dr. Alex Shigo’s book “Tree Basics” as a model for discussion. This talk can be tailored for a variety of audiences. 1, 2, 3 or, 4 hours.

Tree Anatomy Below Ground
Scott uses slides and information provided by Shigo and Trees Associates for this tree biology talk. This talk can be tailored for basic or advanced audience. 2 hours.

Tree Anatomy Above Ground
Scott uses slides and information provided by Shigo and Trees Associates for this tree biology talk. This talk can be tailored for basic or advanced audience. 2 hours.

Construction With Trees In Mind
Practical techniques for successful tree retention on construction and development sites are covered. Scott uses case studies for examples. A field session on a planned construction site can be included. Half or full day.

Training: Techniques for Diagnosing Structural Problems in Trees
Talk covers basic tree structural anatomy, visual assessment, diagnostic tools, and methods for reporting results. 2-4 hours in length.

Tree Diagnostic Tools and Techniques Workshop
This workshop presents a logical progression for evaluating trees. Internal decay diagnostic methods are covered. The presentation includes field demonstrations in the afternoon using live trees or dissected samples. Full day 

Advanced Diagnostics in Hazard Tree Assessment
This class presents tools and techniques for analysis of tree structure for experienced arborists involved in assessing the potential risk from trees. An outdoor component for this talk is optional but recommended. Half or full day.

Training:  Advanced Climbing
Techniques and skill development used in climbing giant trees. A workshop for treehouse builders and recreational climbers, using Minimal Impact principles. Half to full day.