(Roger Brown of Apical Tree Services, up in a giant poplar tree)

West Seattle’s own botanic garden just got a big gift from local arborists. Here’s the announcement from the South Seattle College Arboretum, accompanied by photos:

In celebration of Arbor Day, local arborists certified by Plant Amnesty took to the trees of The Arboretum at South Seattle College last week, providing some much-needed expert pruning services.

“I am so happy that this work is getting done,” says Mark Pollock, Arboretum Coordinator. “The value of these services is somewhere between $12,000 and $15,000. It’s a tremendous gift to us and we are very thankful.”

Plant Amnesty describes itself as “a 1000-member mock-militant nonprofit organization whose mission is to end the senseless torture and mutilation of trees and shrubs caused by mal-pruning.”

Established in 1987 by the late Cass Turnbull, the organization is devoted to educating the public about the proper way to care for trees and shrubs and to providing referrals to qualified arborists and landscape gardeners.

Every year in celebration of Arbor Day, Plant Amnesty arborists volunteer their time to prune trees for a good cause. This is the second year that they have chosen The Arboretum at South Seattle College for this benefit.

(From left, Roger Brown of Apical Tree Services, Darrin Kuebler of Thor Tree, Eric Matteo of The Tree Stewards, and Mark Harman, retired owner of Stonehenge Tree Services)

(From left, Dana Harper and Jory Virtue of Legendary Tree)

(L-R, Rich Appleton and Jack Bautsch from Plant Amnesty)

Arborists who donated their time this year were from:

Apical Tree Services
Fluent Tree
Grün Tree Care
Ira Ford Ecological Design
Legendary Tree Services
Major Tree
Symbiosis Tree Care
The Tree Stewards
Thor Tree

The Arboretum at South Seattle College is a 5-acre botanical garden that serves as a laboratory and workshop for students in the College’s Landscape Horticulture Program. The garden is also a destination for local residents both as an outdoor classroom and as a soothing escape from the city. The Arboretum has one of the best conifer collections in the United States and is designated as a Reference Garden by the American Conifer Society.

Find out more about the Arboretum by going here.