Key Points:
- An ISA-Certified Arborist is the best landscape professional to provide tree healthcare, maintenance, and structural risk assessments.
- Arborists, landscapers, and lawn care providers all serve distinct purposes, and knowing the differences among them can help homeowners hire the right professional.
- Arborists respond to tree emergencies and provide pruning, pest control, seasonal maintenance visits, and a range of other services.
When searching for an outdoor professional to work on your landscape, many people mistakenly prioritize a good price over specific qualifications. The main roles in the industry—arborist, landscaper, and lawn care provider—each have distinct sets of skills, training, and expertise. Choosing the wrong person to address your landscape’s needs could actually cause additional problems and cost more down the road.
While many Front Range homeowners have a lawn crew and maybe a landscaper, these pros do not inspect trees or diagnose diseases. For those tasks, only a certified arborist has the knowledge and credentials to do the job right.
At Knothead Tree and Lawn Care, our ISA-Certified Arborists deliver exceptional tree care in Denver, Lakewood, Aurora, and surrounding areas, while adhering to the industry’s strictest safety protocols. Let’s review the key roles within the landscape industry and why an ISA-Certified Arborist is the best choice for your tree care needs.
Who’s Who in the Landscaping Industry?
There are three key roles within the industry—an arborist, a landscaper, and a lawn care provider—each serving a distinct purpose. While their roles sometimes overlap, it’s important to understand their areas of focus and limitations before bringing someone on to care for your yard.
Landscaper
Landscapers design, build, and maintain outdoor spaces, such as yards, gardens, and patio areas. More than gardeners, landscapers alter and refine the structural elements of a landscape while maintaining plants.
With a primary focus on aesthetics and upkeep, their responsibilities often include:
- Planting new shrubs, flowers, and trees
- Mowing and fertilizing lawns
- Trimming hedges and shrubs
- Cleaning up debris, such as fallen twigs and branches
There is no standardized criterion for landscaping, although many states require licenses for specialized landscape work. The state of Colorado requires professionals who apply pesticides to hold a license issued by the Pesticide Applicator Certification and Licensing Program. Likewise, the Colorado Department of Regulatory Agencies provides licensing information for landscape architects, but this role differs from that of a landscaper; landscape architects must graduate from an accredited program and meet specific requirements.
While landscapers may be knowledgeable about tree and plant health, they are not professionally trained or certified to diagnose tree issues or conduct structural risk assessments.
Lawn Care Provider
Unlike landscapers who handle the aesthetics of your entire landscape, lawn care providers focus solely on turf. More than just mowing, these professionals offer a range of lawn-specific services. They work to improve drainage and soil compaction in residential and urban neighborhoods.
Other services include:
- Putting down seed for new growth
- Fertilizing the soil to improve grass growth
- Removing weeds to keep the lawn neat
- Treating and preventing pests
When hiring a lawn care provider, it’s important to know that, given their specialization, they are not qualified to work on your property’s trees, shrubs, or other plants. Their soil assessments are limited in scope and do not account for how soil health connects to tree and plant vitality.
Arborist
Arborists are professionals in arboriculture, which is the cultivation, management, and study of trees, shrubs, and other perennial woody plants. ISA-Certified Arborists have earned certification from the International Society of Arboriculture, which is the industry’s most respected credential, and are required to recertify every 3 years through continuing education units.
Of the three roles, arborists offer the largest range of services related to your landscape’s health and appearance:
- Conducting tree risk assessments to ensure tree stability and property safety
- Safely removing undesired, hazardous, or dying trees
- Diagnosing tree problems and diseases
- Providing plant healthcare services such as fertilization and invasive plant management
- Pruning tree branches in hazardous positions
- Preventing pests and regional threats through proactive monitoring
Arborists have the equipment and experience necessary to provide professional tree care that accounts for your landscape’s entire ecosystem, not just one aspect.
Why This Distinction Matters
An arborist is the only expert trained to deliver long-term tree healthcare. This matters most when safety concerns arise.
Imagine if one of your trees’ branches is hanging over your fence. While a landscaper might attempt to trim back the branch, an arborist has been trained in proper pruning techniques and will ensure the tree’s health and structure are considered, mitigating future threats from neighboring branches. It’s worth noting the distinction between tree trimming and pruning: Trimming focuses on shape and aesthetics, while pruning aims to improve the tree’s health and structure by removing damaged or dangerous branches.
Another example is soil care. While lawn care providers can fertilize and share insights about the health of your soil, they may not be able to provide a complete picture the way an arborist can. Soil health provides the foundation for tree and plant health. An arborist can assess each component of your landscape individually and as part of a larger ecosystem, giving you a more complete picture and a more accurate treatment plan.
When to Call an Arborist
Most homeowners call a local arborist for emergencies, such as storm damage. However, arborists can also provide regular maintenance visits, preventive treatments, and more. Here’s when you’ll want to call an arborist over another landscape professional:
- Tree Symptoms: From summer droughts and winter snow damage to emerald ash borers and mountain pine beetles, Colorado trees face plenty of challenges season after season. Inspect your trees periodically for drought stress, storm damage, premature leaf drop, signs of pest infestations, and other unusual symptoms.
- Safety Hazards: Leaning and exposed roots are signs of instability that an arborist looks for during a tree risk assessment. They can also prune branches too close to the home or power lines.
- Consultation for Removal: From safety hazards to aesthetic concerns, a certified arborist will assess your needs and manage the tree removal process from start to finish.
- Seasonal Maintenance: When an arborist visits your property every few months, they are more likely to catch early warning signs and take action before issues develop. This also means a decreased risk of tree emergencies in the future.
Keep Your Front Range Trees Healthy With Knothead Tree and Lawn Care
Leave the health and structure of your trees to a reputable certified arborist. Since 2008, Knothead Tree and Lawn Care has protected Colorado landscapes with science-backed tree care led by ISA-Certified Arborists. With proactive care and professional expertise, we cultivate lush, resilient landscapes that enhance the beauty, health, and value of your property.
Ready to schedule a consultation? Call 303-529-2678 or contact us online today!
FAQs
How do I know if my tree needs an arborist or a landscaper?
If your concern involves tree health, structural stability, disease, pests, or overhanging branches near your home or power lines, you need a certified arborist. Landscapers focus on aesthetics and general upkeep and are not trained to diagnose tree conditions or conduct risk assessments. When in doubt, an ISA-Certified Arborist can evaluate your tree and recommend the appropriate course of action. They also must hold a pesticide applicator license and meet a 3-year certification renewal requirement.
How often should Front Range homeowners schedule visits with an arborist?
For Front Range homeowners, seasonal maintenance visits every few months are ideal given the region’s unique climate stressors, including summer droughts, heavy snowfall, and invasive pests. Regular visits allow an arborist to catch early warning signs before they escalate. Proactive care is almost always less expensive than emergency tree removal or storm damage repair.
What is an ISA-Certified Arborist, and why does certification matter?
An ISA-Certified Arborist has earned credentials from the International Society of Arboriculture, the most respected certifying organization in the tree care industry. Unlike landscapers or lawn care providers, certified arborists must recertify every three years through continuing education, ensuring their knowledge stays current with evolving best practices. This level of training qualifies them to perform risk assessments, diagnose diseases, and safely manage complex tree removals.
Can a lawn care company treat trees on my property in Colorado?
No, lawn care providers specialize exclusively in turf health and are not qualified to assess or treat trees, shrubs, or other plants. Their soil evaluations are also limited in scope and do not account for how soil conditions affect tree vitality. For a complete picture of your landscape’s ecosystem, consult an arborist rather than a lawn care provider.
