Tony Kirkham
Head of Arboretum, Gardens, and Horticultural Services, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew

This is your chance to take a master class with the Head of the Arboretum at England’s renowned Kew Gardens!  The course will focus on the principles and techniques of tree pruning from formative pruning to mature tree crown management. Tony Kirkham (pictured below) will cover pruning tools, minimizing the potentially undesirable effects of pruning, the risk management of deadwood, formative pruning, crown thinning, lifting, reduction and reshaping, as well as selective pruning.  Tony will encourage you to envision the end result you are aiming for in your pruning and consider the pruning strategy required to achieve them.  He will provide insight into the pruning and related work found in British Standard BS 3998:2010 Tree Work Recommendations and how they compare to American ANSI standards.  Tony and his team manage more than 14,000 trees at Kew Gardens. He is the author of two books on pruning—The Pruning of Trees, Shrubs, and Conifers and Essential Pruning Techniques.  Part of the class will be an outside tour of the Arboretum to look at pruning scenarios and discuss strategies.  Dress for the weather.  Lunch is included with registration fee. 

This course carries 4.5 CEUs for ISA certified arborists (S=0, P=4.5, M=0).
Monday, March 4
9:30 a.m.–2:30 p.m.

Jason Lubar
Associate Director of Urban Forestry, ISA BCMA

Tree quality and proper planting are key elements influencing survival, establishment, long-term health, and maintenance needs.  This presentation will define ‘quality’ as it relates to trees and will focus on the steps necessary to produce, identify, and plant high-quality trees.  Myths and realities of tree care and planting are reviewed including tree fertilization, proper methods of staking and guying, and the best approaches for pruning young trees to encourage proper development.  You will learn how to draft and enforce planting specifications, evaluate the condition of root systems and branching structure to ensure that you purchase and receive high quality plants, and how to interpret industry standards and best management practices.  This course is designed for landscape business owners and foremen, landscape architects, arborists, people who plant trees, and others who are responsible for signing and fulfilling planting contracts. 

Lunch is included with registration fee.

This course carries 6.5 CEUs for ISA certified arborists (S=2, P=2, M=2.5) and LA CES credits for landscape architects.

Tuesday, March 12  
9:00 a.m.–4:00 p.m.

 Robert Wells

Associate Director, Arboriculture Outreach, Morris Arboretum, RCA #593

Morris Arboretum’s School of Arboriculture is pleased to offer the first instructional training session for the Tree and Plant Appraisal Qualification (TPAQ) through the American Society of Consulting Arborists (ASCA). This two-day training will introduce the new 10^th Edition of the Guide for Plant Appraisal.  The Guide provides instruction in the concepts that form the foundation of plant appraisal.  It bridges the gap between concept and practice and includes a detailed discussion of the appraisal process, as well as identifying the purpose and use of the appraisal.  Bob will review the 10^th Edition including approaches, methods, and techniques of amenity plant appraisal. The training will culminate with the Qualification Exam offered at the end of the class on Friday the 15th..  Successful completion of this training and a passing grade in the exam  recognizes you as a Qualified Tree and Plant Appraiser administered through the American Society of Consulting Arborists.  Lunch is included with registration fee.

Attendees are required to purchase and read the 10^th Edition of the Guide for Plant Appraisal before taking the course. This course carries 14 CEUs for ISA certified arborists (S=4, P=4, M=6).

Robert Wells is Associate Director of Arboriculture Outreach at the Morris Arboretum and a certified TPAQ instructor. Prior to that, he owned and operated a private tree care firm in Princeton, New Jersey since 1972. He has a BS from Rutgers in Plant Sciences, a Masters degree from the University of Pennsylvania in Environmental Studies and is currently an adjunct professor at Temple University.  Robert is an ISA Board Certified Arborist, a NJ Licensed Tree Expert, and an RCA.

Thursday and Friday, March 14 & 15

March 14th - 8:30 a.m. – 3:30 p.m.

March 15th - 8:30 a.m. 5:30 p.m.

$650 for members of ASCA or ISA Certified Arborists

$725 for qualified non-members

Zach Shechtman
Owner, Shechtman Tree Care

This class provides an introduction to tree climbing and features the opportunity to have supervised climbing instruction in trees. It is ideal for tree companies looking to advance promising grounds staff, or for gardeners and landscapers who want to add new skills. Effective methods for climbing trees will be demonstrated by instructors and practiced by students. Safety rules will be reviewed and stressed. Students will learn how to tie critical knots regularly used by arborists. Included in the fee, each student will receive a copy of The Tree Climbers Companion by Jeff Jepson, a great resource for climbers. If you have them, bring an arborist’s rope and saddle, a hard hat, gloves, safety glasses to the class. If not, there is equipment you may use. Wear boots, long pants, and dress for the weather. This class meets at the Arboretum’s Bloomfield Farm Horticulture Center. Please see page 49 for directions. This course carries 19.5 CEUs for ISA certified arborists (S=7.5, P=12, M=0).

Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, March 20, 21, 22
Fee: $525 (includes lunch)
9:00 a.m.–4:00 p.m.

Scott Sjolander
Certified TRAQ Instructor
The TRAQ training course was created by the International Society of Arboriculture (ISA). This training opportunity is sponsored by the New Jersey Chapter of the ISA. It is hosted by the Morris Arboretum at the New Jersey Forest Service’s, Forest Resource Education Center, 495 Don Conner Blvd. in Jackson, New Jersey. The course will provide a high level of training for arborists, landscape architects, and landscape management professionals in the fundamentals of tree risk assessment. This qualification promotes the safety of people and property by providing a standardized and systematic process for assessing tree risk. TRAQ is a two-day course followed by a half-day examination on Saturday that includes both a written and a field component. The course prepares the participant to take the TRAQ exam to become ISA Tree Risk Assessment Qualified. It is required that you attend the course and successfully complete the assessment examination in order to receive the ISA Tree Risk Assessment Qualification. The content of this course will focus on the following areas: tree biology and mechanics, tree inspection and assessment, data analysis and risk categorization, and risk reporting. The Tree Risk Assessment Qualification is valid for five years from the date the exam is passed. The qualification holder is required to retake the course and pass the exam every five years in order to maintain the qualification. To be able to register for the course and take the exam, you must have earned one of the following credentials:
   • ISA Certified Arborist or BCMA
   • A national certification or certificate in arboriculture
   • Licensing or certification from an approved state program
   • SAF Certified Forester
   • ASCA Registered Consulting Arborist
   • A degree in arboriculture, urban forestry, traditional forestry, or horticulture from an accredited college or university.
Participants will receive course materials two weeks prior to the start of class. Read the materials before class and bring them with you to class.

The class takes place at the New Jersey Forest Service Forest Resource Education Center, 495 Don Conner Blvd, Jackson, NJ 08527.  Lunch is included with registration fee. 

This course carries 15 CEUs for ISA certified arborists (S=7, P=3, M=5). 

Registration deadline: February 22, 2019

Thursday and Friday, March 21, 22
8:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m.

Saturday, March 23
8:00 a.m.–12 noon
Fees: ISA Members:  $650
Non ISA Members:  $750
Exam retake only:  $150

Richard Buckley
Manager, Plant Diagnostics Laboratory, Rutgers University
This session reviews the major causes of abiotic and biotic plant disorders in North American woody stemmed plants. Biotic plant problems are caused by organisms, such as fungi, bacteria, viruses, nematodes, and animals. Abiotic disorders are caused by nonliving factors, such as drought stress, sunscald, freeze injury, wind injury, chemical drift, nutrient deficiency, or improper cultural practices.  Unfortunately, the damage caused by these various living and non-living agents can appear very similar. A systematic approach to the identification of environmental, fungal, and bacterial causes of plant disorders and diseases will be considered along with common sense approaches to their control.  Lunch is included with registration fee.

This course carries 6.5 CEUs for ISA certified arborists (S=3, P=2, M=1.5) and pesticide update credits from the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture.

Thursday, March 21 
9:00 a.m.–4:00 p.m.

Clark Williams
Owner, Focus on Training

This course explains how electricity creates hazards for tree workers and how to minimize the risks to meet the OSHA training requirement for both qualified and non-qualified tree workers. Identification of electrical hardware, facilities, voltages, and methods to distinguish live parts are included to meet the electrical training portion of the OSHA training requirements for Incidental Line Clearance and Line Clearance Qualified workers. Lunch is included with registration fee.

This course carries 6.5 CEUs for ISA certified arborists (S=0, P=4.5, M=2).

Friday, March 29 
8:30 a.m.–3:30 p.m.

Wayne Cahilly  
Owner, Cahilly’s Horticultural Services, LLC
This seminar will examine the special nature of veteran trees.  A veteran tree is one that is past maturity and is old in comparison with other trees of the same species. We will discuss current research and some of the preservation practices that are popular in England including retrenchment, propping, and reduction.  Like all living things, trees survive through the transfer of energy.  This transfer occurs both within the tree itself, as well as between the tree and its environment.  Far from being a static process, energy relations are highly dynamic and constantly changing as trees age, decline, and die. Arborists should be aware of these changes, to provide the best advice and management recommendations to his or her clients for the care and preservation of older trees.   Lunch is included with registration fee.

Wayne Cahilly is an International Society of Arboriculture Board Certified Master Arborist, a Registered Consulting Arborist and a graduate of the School of Professional Horticulture at the New York Botanical Gardens, where he has worked for the Science and Capitol Projects division as an arborist, forest manager, arboretum and grounds manager and is now the manager of the mapping department.  He also owns and operates Cahilly’s Horticultural Services, LLC., a consulting business focusing on pre- and post-failure analysis of trees and providing assistance to the legal and insurance communities. 

This course carries 6.5 CEUs for ISA certified arborists (S=3, P=2, M=1.5).

Friday, April 5 
9:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.

Larry Weaner
Principal, Larry Weaner Landscape Design Associates
Demand for native meadows, particularly as an alternative to lawn, is increasing, and yet few types of landscape plantings are more misunderstood, with many failures resulting from inadequate planning and the use of poorly adapted plants.  Far better results can be obtained when the plants and processes used reflect the ecological character of our naturally occurring meadow communities.  More than one-year wonders, meadows modeled on these ecosystems can provide long-term, easily managed landscapes that harbor a myriad of wildlife and provide color and texture throughout the year.  In this all-day, in-depth workshop, Larry Weaner will discuss the design, implementation, and management of native meadows, using a series of case studies featuring large and small-scale meadows, as well as projects ranging in age from initial establishment to over ten years in existence.  He will also illustrate how garden design principles can be used in the meadow for subtle visual effect and to create graceful transitions to more formal garden areas. Lunch is included with registration fee.

Larry Weaner has been creating native landscapes since 1977.  He founded Larry Weaner Landscape Associates in 1982 and has gained a national reputation for combining ecological restoration with the traditions of garden design.

This course carries 6.5 CEUs for ISA certified arborists (S=3, P=2, M=1.5) and LA CES credits for landscape architects.

Thursday, April 11 
9:00 a.m.–4:00 p.m.

Robert Wells
Associate Director, Arboriculture Outreach
Tony Dufour
Registered Landscape Architect Certified Arborist, and Owner, Anthony Dufour Gardens
In recent years, books like Bringing Nature Home by Dr. Douglas Tallamy have made us aware of the importance of using native plants in landscapes that we design, install, and maintain in order to promote rich and robust ecosystems that will support a variety of life forms. The overwhelming number of plant species available in the nursery trade make it difficult to select the best plant to achieve these purposes. Join us for an overview of the native woody plants of the Philadelphia region. We will explore the difference between native and introduced plants and gain an understanding of how native plants perform in the landscape, the built environment, and the ecosystems around us. We will be using The Sibley Guide to Trees as our reference to compile a list of native trees that will be of help to you in designing and constructing landscape projects. There will be an outdoor component in the afternoon so dress appropriately. Lunch is included with registration fee.

This course carries 6 CEUs for ISA certified arborists (S=2, P=2, M=2) and LA CES credits for landscape architects.

Friday, April 12 
8:30 a.m.–3:30 p.m.

Clark Williams
Owner, Focus on Training

This course is designed for people who want to become Pennsylvania Certified Pesticide Applicators. It is the core, introductory portion, of the certification training and must be taken before any category certifications. The course provides an introduction to the proper use and mixing of pesticides, reading and understanding labels, equipment maintenance and calibration, and record keeping, as well as an overview of Pennsylvania’s rules and regulations regarding pesticide use. Clark has been training applicators for many years through his company, Focus on Training, and previously worked as an utility/power line arborist. Lunch is included with registration fee.

This course carries 6.5 CEUs for ISA certified arborists (S=2, P=3, M=1.5) and pesticide update credits (core) from the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture.

*Note: The Pesticide Applicator Certification Exam will not be offered at the conclusion of this course. Test dates and locations can be accessed through the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture website at https://paplants.state.pa.us/Index.aspx.

Thursday, April 25 
8:30 a.m.–3:30 p.m.

Clark Williams
Owner, Focus on Training

This class will discuss identification of diseases, insects, and other ornamental pests through the use of signs and symptoms.  We will discuss using integrated pest management to control pests on ornamental plants.  This includes control methods and pesticide products.  We will also consider ornamental plant applications and will review everything from equipment and techniques, to some of the unique concerns involved when doing foliar pesticide applications.  Lunch is included with registration fee.

This course carries 6.5 CEUs for ISA certified arborists (S=2, P=3, M=1.5) and pesticide update credits from the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture.

Friday, April 26 
8:30 a.m.–3:30 p.m.