Professional tree care ASSOCIATION

SAVE THE DATE!

35TH ANNUAL EVENT IS SCHEDULED FOR AUGUST 16 & 17, 2024

STAY TUNED FOR ALL THE DETAILS 

We had over 392 attendees join us in Balboa Park on August 18 and 19th for "Into the Canopy" our

34th Annual Seminar and Field Day!  Stay tuned for another great program next summer!

Check out the photos on our Facebook page

Thanks to our 2023-24 Sponsors 

a special thank you to Albert Sais and the City of San Diego! 

We had a great time at Balboa Park in 2021!

Check out the photos on our Facebook page

2020 Vision aired August 21, 2020 

PRESENTED VIA ZOOM - recapped by Dan Simpson

The PTCA in response to the COVID challenge created a virtual seminar that was different from past events. The attendance requirement is as simple as before. Park yourself and pay attention. II did so and must say it was easier than past experiences at annual seminars. Refreshments were on me and my personal bathrooms was not crowded. Only thing missing was the face time with colleagues and reminiscing over the past. Perhaps if this happens again we may have something to address that.

All in all I found the seminar very enjoyable. Dr. Ritter never fails to educate and provoke thoughts on trees. I think the idea of future urban forest species is timely. We as professionals are seeing decline in our native tree species who have long been an anchor for our urban forest. When we consider species as replacement what are the choices. Dr. Ritter shared some of his research results with us on what we can expect too see in the future. Forest development takes time and with his comment on climate chaos and the impact it has, we now know what we can expect. Choice of species for future planting will be key to creating and maintaining our future urban forests. As always a great presentation and a new way to look at the trees around us.

Dr Hoddle shared some new insights into the South American Palm Weevil. The primary host plant our once common Phoenix canariensis has been severely impacted. There was a quick chronological review of how it all started and then where we are with research. New thoughts based on current research and data review have led to new types of traps. In fact, during our Sept tree walk in pepper grove we saw one of the older units hanging in a pepper tree with no nearby date palms. Just as suggested from last years talk. We are lucky to have such focused effort on preserving some of the Phoenix which have been in California since the early years of the mission era.Scott Paul of Taylor Guitars shared the efforts of Taylor Guitars who are recreating tree resources around the world. Taylor Guitars is a manufacturer of musical instruments based in El Cajon. I thoroughly enjoyed the background into the wood resource development they are performing. I was especially surprised to hear about the potential of our Shamel Ash as a source of tonal wood for guitar construction. African ebony wood and its forests has been devasted by global demand for decades. Now there is a community based effort at restoration and a future economic resource for indigenous peoples.

Dr. John Ball was very entertaining and informative with his personal stories of tree workers and the injuries that can be incurred. As always a photo is worth a thousand words, even if they are graphic. Dr. Ball elaborated on the reasons for the Z-133 updates based on casualty reports across the nation. This presentation seemed to me to be a great training aid. Anyone who seeks to reduce injury potential could likely use this to get their staff to seriously consider the cause and effect of daily lapses in safety.   I personally enjoyed the seminar online and for a first attempt at technology, I think the PTCA made it a great event. I look forward to see what happens next year.      

-Dan Simpson