Utility Arborist is a person who undertakes any work required to prune or clear vegetation in proximity* to energized electrical equipment, structures and conductors or who in the course of utility line clearing operations, prunes, falls or removes trees which could come into contract with energized power lines. (*Proximity is defined as a distance of three meters or less from a primary conductor with a voltage of 750 volts or greater.)

What do these workers do?
(Source: BC Work Futures)

Utility Arborist falls under the broader category of Landscape Horticulturist Technician or Technologist. These workers need a good knowledge of ornamental and food plants, trees and shrubs:

Work in the field. Your duties may include growing plants from seedlings and then planting them in landscapes. You may lay an entire field of sod and nurture it into a baseball field. Another facet of the job is building fences, gates and garden trellises. Expertise in drainage, plant rotation and irrigation is also helpful.

Communicate with clients. An important part of the job is communicating with clients. Some clients will want to be closely involved in the landscaping process, from beginning to end. You will have to let them know about the job's progress and problems that might come up, and incorporate their needs and ideas about garden design, preferred materials and plants in a professional manner.

Propagate plants. Some of your time will be spent in the greenhouse propagating flowers, trees, shrubs and fruit. Knowing how to increase plant yield will help you create productive gardens. As part of the propagation process you will pick up seeds and place them by hand, delicate work that requires focus and concentration.

Use garden chemicals. Some landscape technicians have a working understanding of chemical fertilizers, fungicides, herbicides, hormones and natural growing methods that support strong, healthy plants. You will also need to know the local and provincial safety regulations that restrict the use of poisonous landscaping chemicals and, in some situations, you will need an applicators license to use them. A landscape technician also needs to know how to disinfect, store and transport plants.

Create planting plans. Part of a horticulturist's job is to create an image of the mature garden. This can be done on graph paper or on the computer with horticultural drafting programs. Once the mature garden has been designed, the technician works backwards to determine the type and density of plantings required to produce the end result and specifies the time frame over which the garden should reach a mature state.

Read the full Utility Arborist profile (32Kb pdf)

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