What does an arborist do?
An arborist is responsible for studying the tree structures and cultivating it for its growth and development as part of environmental conservation efforts. Arborists conduct regular pruning and fertilization, keeping the trees away from parasites and other harmful substances. They also operate various tools and equipment for efficiency and accurate processing. An arborist coordinates with environmental and community organizations to keep the trees' healthy condition, as well as recommending activities that would help in sustaining efforts, such as planting and growing trees across the desired location.
Arborist responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real arborist resumes:
- Cut grass weed eater feed animals water plants fix mowers drive tractor work on plumbing.
- Utilize climbing equipment or buckets of extend truck booms, and/or chainsaws, hooks, handsaws, shears, and clippers.
- Obtain ISA certification, pesticide applicator certification and CDL.
- Maintain and mow lawns; top, trim, and prune shrubs, hedges, and trees.
- Follow all ANSI pruning practices.
- Asphalt roller man grind man shovel loot operator
- Handle standard construction equipment, start CDL license training.
- Used GIS equipment to collect data and track project progress.
- Go out into field and patrol report outages relate to vegetation.
- Perform daily duties of climbing trees, running chainsaws and mowing.
- Traverse catwalks, and iron access ladders on a daily basis.
- Assist ISA certify arborists in pruning, removing, and planting trees.
- Operate wide variety of equipment including power saws, grinders, wielding, cutting and measuring tools, and pneumatic tools.
- Prune and remove trees using chainsaws, hand saws, chippers, stump grinders, skid steers, and aerial buckets.
- Train in high angle rescue, CPR, and assessing stormdamage trees.
Arborist skills and personality traits
We calculated that 12% of Arborists are proficient in CDL, Hand Tools, and CPR.
We break down the percentage of Arborists that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- CDL, 12%
Obtained ISA certification, pesticide applicator certification and CDL.
- Hand Tools, 11%
Operated machinery, ran chainsaws, used various hand tools for pruning and yard maintenance.
- CPR, 8%
Certified in Traffic Control, Tree Felling, First Aid CPR.
- Customer Service, 7%
Maintain positive relationships with all customers, provided outstanding customer service.
- ISA, 6%
Consult: Advise customer on proper pruning practices as defined by the International Society of Arboriculture (ISA).
- Grinders, 5%
Operated wide variety of equipment including power saws, grinders, wielding, cutting and measuring tools, and pneumatic tools.
Common skills that an arborist uses to do their job include "cdl," "hand tools," and "cpr." You can find details on the most important arborist responsibilities below.
Physical stamina. One of the key soft skills for an arborist to have is physical stamina. You can see how this relates to what arborists do because "grounds maintenance workers must be able to do strenuous labor for long periods of time, occasionally in extreme heat or cold." Additionally, an arborist resume shows how arborists use physical stamina: "certified for line clearance climbing and bucket truck operation skills used physical stamina, awareness of fellow employees and hazards"
The three companies that hire the most arborists are:
- The Davey Tree Expert Company574 arborists jobs
- Bartlett Tree Experts167 arborists jobs
- Lewis Tree Service117 arborists jobs
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Compare different arborists
Arborist vs. Landscape technician
A landscaper is responsible for maintaining gardens, plant areas, and other outdoor facilities. Landscapers' duties include reviewing and adjusting landscape design based on the clients' specifications, analyzing garden layouts, measuring land areas and surfaces for the design outlines, installing irrigation systems, maintaining plant growth, and applying fertilizers regularly. Landscapers will also work on removing weeds, trimming overgrown plants, checking defects on landscape equipment, and coordinating with other outdoor design professionals. A landscaper should be knowledgeable about the recent landscaping trends to suggest designs and improve the landscape presentation.
While similarities exist, there are also some differences between arborists and landscape technician. For instance, arborist responsibilities require skills such as "cdl," "cpr," "customer service," and "isa." Whereas a landscape technician is skilled in "grounds maintenance," "grass," "irrigation systems," and "routine maintenance." This is part of what separates the two careers.
Landscape technicians tend to make the most money working in the hospitality industry, where they earn an average salary of $31,317. In contrast, arborists make the biggest average salary, $43,572, in the manufacturing industry.On average, landscape technicians reach similar levels of education than arborists. Landscape technicians are 2.5% less likely to earn a Master's Degree and 0.2% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Arborist vs. Lawn technician
While some skills are similar in these professions, other skills aren't so similar. For example, resumes show us that arborist responsibilities requires skills like "cdl," "hand tools," "cpr," and "customer service." But a lawn technician might use other skills in their typical duties, such as, "quality customer service," "fertilize lawns," "pest control," and "flower beds."
Lawn technicians earn a lower average salary than arborists. But lawn technicians earn the highest pay in the construction industry, with an average salary of $33,766. Additionally, arborists earn the highest salaries in the manufacturing with average pay of $43,572 annually.lawn technicians earn similar levels of education than arborists in general. They're 2.9% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.2% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Arborist vs. Landscaper
Some important key differences between the two careers include a few of the skills necessary to fulfill the responsibilities of each. Some examples from arborist resumes include skills like "cdl," "hand tools," "cpr," and "customer service," whereas a landscaper is more likely to list skills in "taking care," "grass," "water lawns," and "landscape maintenance. "
Landscapers earn the best pay in the health care industry, where they command an average salary of $29,866. Arborists earn the highest pay from the manufacturing industry, with an average salary of $43,572.landscapers typically earn similar educational levels compared to arborists. Specifically, they're 3.5% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 0.1% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Arborist vs. Lawn maintenance worker
Even though a few skill sets overlap between arborists and lawn maintenance workers, there are some differences that are important to note. For one, an arborist might have more use for skills like "cdl," "cpr," "customer service," and "isa." Meanwhile, some responsibilities of lawn maintenance workers require skills like "grass," "ladders," "dexterity," and "manual dexterity. "
Lawn maintenance workers enjoy the best pay in the health care industry, with an average salary of $30,057. For comparison, arborists earn the highest salary in the manufacturing industry.lawn maintenance workers reach similar levels of education compared to arborists, in general. The difference is that they're 3.2% more likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 0.3% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Types of arborist
Updated January 8, 2025
