Georgia Forestry Commission Partners with Floyd County Public Works for Free Training for Pruning Trees O
n May 5, 2022, Floyd County Public Works partnered with the Georgia Forestry Commission, to host a tree pruning class for Public Works employees from the Northwest GA Branch. This free class included participants from northwestern Georgia communities including Rome, Fort Oglethorpe, and Blue Ridge. Certified arborist Seth Hawkins conducted the class, focusing on grooming young trees and pruning for structure while they are still small and manageable. Michael Skeen, Director of Public Works for Floyd County, organized the training event and provided this recap of it. According to Skeen, “Our local government has spent a significant amount of money to design and install landscapes around multi-million-dollar facilities. But once the building and grounds are complete, we typically hand the
Back to Contents
maintenance over to someone with little professional training.” Skeen continues, “While our employees work hard, they are primarily in their position because they are the most experienced Certified Officer working with inmate details, not for their appreciation or experience with plants and trees.” Some communities choose to outsource this service, which does give options to contract with highly trained and competent workers, but we typically award contracts to the lowest bidder, which doesn’t always mean the best trained. It is important that someone in the local government has the education and experience to assure they are getting value for their money. The primary focus of the class was proper pruning techniques and when to prune. However, some time was spent on risk assessment of mature trees.
Seth Hawkins, right, discussing pruning needs with participants from the NW GA Branch in Rome recently.
I s s u e 2 – J u l y/A u g u s t 20 2 2 | G EO RG I A P U B L I C WO R K S
15
