Excerpt from: Business Of PHC, Part 1: Plant Health Care: It Could Be the Shot in the Arm Your Company Need

Take note: There’s a potentially lucrative source of income out there that your tree care business may not be taking advantage of, and it’s not as difficult to launch as you might think. We’re talking plant health care, or PHC, which is a natural extension for those in the green industry and a rapidly growing segment of tree care.

So, what exactly is plant health care? Tchukki Andersen, BCMA, CTSP and TCIA’s manager of tree care expertise, offers this simple definition. “The broad definition of PHC is in the initials themselves,” she says. “Plant health care is the care and maintenance of woody trees and shrubs. These are living, breathing life forms that we are managing in their current, often urban, locations.

“Everyone tends to look at PHC differently,” she notes. “But if you’re just starting out, it’s looking for those visible stressors like diseases, insect pests, rodents or an unhealthy growing environment. It’s soil management, including nutrition and knowing which trees are best suited for your area. It’s pruning of young trees for the best structure, and then it’s maintaining those trees as they mature. As they get older, it might mean cabling and bracing, as well as hazard-tree awareness to eliminate risk and extend the life of the tree. All of that can be part of PHC.”

Continue reading this article: