Ask an Arborist
Straight answers about Utah trees, lawns, irrigation, and landscapes, from ISA Certified Arborists who have worked this valley since 1943.
Why a tree looks the way it does, and what it actually means.
One of the most common causes of yellow leaves on Utah maples is iron chlorosis.
The problem is often not that Utah soil contains no iron. Utah’s alkaline soils can contain iron while making that iron difficult for susceptible plants to absorb.
A classic symptom is yellow leaf tissue with greener veins.
As chlorosis becomes more severe, leaves may become pale, develop brown or scorched edges, and eventually decline.
Maples are particularly susceptible because many commonly planted maple species are better adapted to soils with a lower pH than is common along the Wasatch Front.
But yellow leaves should not automatically be diagnosed as iron chlorosis.
Similar symptoms may also be influenced by:
Adding fertilizer or iron without understanding the growing environment can waste money without correcting the underlying problem.
For an established valuable tree, treatment may be appropriate.
For a young tree that repeatedly develops severe chlorosis because it is poorly adapted to the site, replacing it with a better-adapted species may sometimes be the more successful long-term decision.
Tree removal should usually be based on the condition, location, and reasonably manageable risk of the tree—not simply its size or age.
Reasons removal may be appropriate include severe structural defects, extensive decay, major root instability, irreversible decline, dead canopy, repeated major failure, severe storm damage, construction conflicts that cannot reasonably be resolved, or a location that creates unacceptable long-term problems.
But not every imperfect tree needs to be removed.
Some trees can be managed through pruning, support, plant health care, irrigation correction, soil improvement, and monitoring.
Mature trees may have substantial landscape value, so preservation should be considered where practical.
The correct question is not simply, “Is something wrong with this tree?”
It is, “Can the problem be managed successfully, or has removal become the more reasonable long-term decision?”
Behunin Tree / Behunin Horticulture evaluates both preservation and removal rather than assuming one answer fits every tree.
Because the visible symptom is not always the actual problem.
A yellow tree might have iron chlorosis, saturated roots, poor drainage, compacted soil, construction damage, nutrient imbalance, or disease.
A thin canopy might result from drought, root loss, overwatering, insects, disease, girdling roots, or poor planting.
Applying fertilizer, insecticide, or fungicide without knowing the cause may do nothing to solve the problem.
In some cases it may make conditions worse.
Professional plant health care should begin with questions:
What is the plant doing?
What changed?
What are the soil and roots doing?
How is it being irrigated?
Are pests actually present?
Behunin Tree / Behunin Horticulture combines TCIA Certified Plant Health Care Technicians, ISA Certified Arborists, horticultural education, and JLB system evaluation.
The objective is treatment based on diagnosis—not treatment based only on a symptom.
Because much of a tree is underground.
Construction can damage a tree without ever touching its trunk.
Possible impacts include soil compaction, root cutting, trenching, grade changes, paving, equipment traffic, altered drainage, irrigation changes, and soil burial.
A tree may continue looking normal for a period after construction because it has stored energy and existing foliage.
Decline can appear later.
Symptoms may include thinning canopy, smaller leaves, branch dieback, premature fall color, poor growth, and increased pest problems.
Protecting mature trees during construction should therefore include root-zone protection, not simply a fence around the trunk.
Where valuable mature trees are part of a project, they should be considered before grading, utility placement, hardscape, or excavation begins.
Many properties are managed in pieces.
One company trims the trees.
Another handles sprinklers.
Another cuts the lawn.
Another shears the shrubs.
Another designs the landscape.
Each contractor may perform its own work correctly while nobody evaluates how the decisions interact.
But the landscape is already interacting.
More irrigation can increase plant growth.
More growth can increase pruning.
Removing canopy can increase sunlight.
More sunlight can change irrigation requirements.
Poor soil can create plant-health symptoms.
Incorrect plant selection can create permanent maintenance problems.
Behunin Tree / Behunin Horticulture combines arboriculture, horticulture, plant health care, irrigation, landscape design, technical tree work, growth management, and JLB Canopy Management.
JLB provides the framework that connects those disciplines.
This does not mean every customer needs every service.
It means the person evaluating the tree can understand what the irrigation is doing, and the person planning the landscape can understand what the mature tree will become.
That is the difference between managing individual services and managing a landscape system.
Watering trees, lawns, and landscapes in Utah's climate.
Yes.
This is one of the easiest landscape problems to misdiagnose.
A homeowner sees wilting, leaf scorch, yellow foliage, thinning canopy, or poor growth and assumes the tree needs more water.
But saturated soil can create many of the same visible symptoms.
Roots need both water and oxygen.
When soil remains saturated for extended periods, the air spaces within the soil fill with water.
Roots can lose access to enough oxygen, decline, and become less capable of absorbing water.
The strange result is that a tree surrounded by wet soil can develop symptoms that resemble drought stress.
Adding even more irrigation can make the problem worse.
This is especially important in heavy clay soils, poorly drained landscapes, low areas, lawns watered frequently, newly planted trees, and properties with leaking irrigation.
Before changing irrigation, check the root zone.
The real question is not, “How long did the sprinklers run?”
It is, “What is the moisture condition where the roots are actually growing?”
JLB Canopy Management treats irrigation and plant physiology as connected issues rather than separate services.
Not automatically.
Mature trees use water, but they also provide benefits that may take decades to replace.
Depending on the property, mature trees can provide shade, cooler outdoor areas, reduced solar exposure on buildings, privacy, habitat, landscape character, and substantial replacement value.
A mature landscape should therefore be evaluated before assuming removal is the best water-conservation strategy.
The better first question may be:
Can we reduce unnecessary plant water demand while preserving the valuable canopy?
That could involve:
A tree may be unsafe, poorly adapted, chronically unhealthy, incorrectly located, or incompatible with the future landscape.
But water conservation alone does not automatically make a healthy mature tree a liability.
JLB Canopy Management starts with plant demand and evaluates the entire landscape before deciding what should stay, change, or be removed.
Pruning changes a tree’s canopy and leaf area, so it can affect transpiration and plant water demand.
But that does not mean that removing an arbitrary percentage of branches produces the same percentage reduction in landscape water use.
Trees are biological systems.
Their response depends on species, amount of foliage removed, pruning method, season, regrowth, soil, irrigation, weather, and plant health.
Heavy pruning may also trigger vigorous regrowth, damage structure, or create unnecessary stress.
That is why JLB does not use a strategy of simply “cutting more tree to save more water.”
The preferred approach is precision canopy management.
That means selecting appropriate branches, making cuts at proper branch origins, preserving natural form, and managing canopy density without unnecessarily stripping the tree.
Then irrigation can be evaluated to determine whether the landscape’s actual demand has changed.
Behunin Tree / Behunin Horticulture considers pruning, irrigation, soil, physiology, microclimate, growth, and maintenance together.
The objective is not just a smaller canopy.
It is a better-managed landscape.
Usually not.
Turfgrass and established trees have very different root systems and irrigation needs.
Turf generally has a shallower root zone and often receives water more frequently.
Trees and large shrubs typically benefit from moisture reaching deeper into the soil profile.
Problems occur when an irrigation system treats them as if they were the same plant.
A tree growing inside lawn may receive frequent shallow irrigation because the lawn needs it.
That does not automatically mean the tree’s deeper root system is being watered correctly.
It can also create chronically wet surface soil around trees that prefer more drying between irrigation cycles.
Good irrigation management considers root depth, soil texture, species, establishment stage, weather, sun, shade, and sprinkler distribution.
Where practical, turf and woody plants should be managed according to their different water requirements.
That is one reason irrigation zoning is an important part of JLB Canopy Management.
Because the landscape has changed.
A mature tree affects far more than the space occupied by its trunk.
Its canopy influences shade, temperature, wind, evaporation, soil moisture, surrounding shrubs, turf, and sprinkler patterns.
When a large canopy is substantially changed or a tree is removed, the plants below and around it may suddenly receive much more sun.
Soil may dry faster.
Turf may respond differently.
Plants that previously grew in shade may experience heat stress.
At the same time, part of the plant water demand has disappeared.
Leaving irrigation exactly as it was before the tree work may no longer make sense.
That is why JLB connects canopy management and irrigation.
Tree work should not always end when the branches leave the property.
The resulting landscape should be evaluated to determine whether its irrigation, plant selection, or maintenance should change as well.
No.
Turfgrass can be a practical part of a water-conscious landscape when it has a purpose and is irrigated appropriately.
Useful turf may provide children’s play space, pet areas, recreation, gathering space, cooling, open visual space, and relatively simple maintenance.
The better question is not, “Should every lawn disappear?”
It is, “Is turf being used where turf makes sense?”
Narrow strips, difficult slopes, awkward corners, or lawn that serves no useful purpose may be candidates for redesign.
But replacing a large functional lawn with a very large planting bed can also increase weeds, pruning, plant replacement, mulch maintenance, and irrigation complexity.
Water-wise design should evaluate the whole property.
Turf can remain where it serves a useful role while irrigation, grass selection, soil, and maintenance are improved.
JLB focuses on appropriate plant demand, not simply reducing the amount of living vegetation.
Some improved and hybrid bluegrass cultivars have better drought or heat performance than older conventional selections.
But the important word is: some.
“Hybrid bluegrass” is not a guarantee that every seed blend will use a specific percentage less water.
Performance depends on cultivar, climate, soil, mowing, irrigation, establishment, and desired appearance.
That is why Behunin Tree / Behunin Horticulture prefers to tie water-use claims to the actual seed blend being installed rather than making one blanket percentage claim for every improved grass.
Seed selection can be an important water-management tool.
But it should be combined with appropriate turf placement, soil preparation, correct mowing, irrigation zoning, and seasonal scheduling.
The grass and the irrigation system need to work together.
Growth regulation can be part of a broader strategy to reduce unnecessary plant demand, but it would be misleading to promise a fixed landscape water-savings percentage from a PGR treatment alone.
Plant growth and water use are related.
Leaves are major locations of transpiration, and managing excessive vegetative growth can change the way a plant allocates resources.
But actual landscape water demand also depends on species, canopy, weather, irrigation, soil, microclimate, plant health, and surrounding vegetation.
That is why JLB does not treat PGRs as a stand-alone water-conservation product.
Growth management is combined with canopy management, irrigation optimization, soil management, plant physiology, microclimate, and long-term maintenance.
The goal is to change the landscape intelligently and then adjust irrigation to match actual plant demand.
Where practical, grouping plants by similar water requirements makes irrigation much easier to manage.
Turf, mature trees, newly planted trees, and shrub beds may all require different watering frequency, depth, application method, and seasonal adjustment.
When very different plants share one irrigation zone, the property may end up watering one group excessively just to keep another alive.
For example, a lawn may benefit from a different watering pattern than an established tree’s root zone.
A new tree may require special establishment irrigation.
A shaded shrub bed may need less water than a bed exposed to afternoon sun.
This is known as hydrozoning—grouping landscape areas according to their irrigation needs.
JLB incorporates the same concept into a larger system that also evaluates canopy, soil, physiology, microclimate, growth, and maintenance.
Start by finding out where the water demand and water loss actually are.
A large property may be wasting water because of outdated irrigation schedules, broken sprinklers, overspray, poor zoning, unnecessary plant growth, repeated shearing, poorly adapted plants, unused turf, or soil problems.
That does not automatically mean the entire mature landscape should be replaced.
An integrated approach can evaluate:
Canopy — Does the existing canopy need structural or density management?
Irrigation — Are run times, frequencies, heads, pressure, and zones appropriate?
Soil — Is compaction or poor infiltration causing problems?
Plant physiology — What do the plants actually require?
Microclimate — Which areas are hot, shaded, windy, or protected?
Growth — Are maintenance practices creating unnecessary regrowth?
Long-term maintenance — Will today’s change still make sense five or ten years from now?
This is the basis of JLB Canopy Management.
Behunin Tree / Behunin Horticulture can evaluate large landscapes in phases, allowing HOAs, commercial sites, institutions, and municipalities to prioritize improvements without assuming wholesale landscape removal is the only conservation option.
Because many tree problems begin below the canopy.
Water affects root growth, oxygen availability, nutrient uptake, shoot growth, plant health, disease susceptibility, and canopy development.
A tree may be professionally pruned while still declining because its irrigation is wrong.
Likewise, a pruning decision may change the tree’s canopy and surrounding shade, which can alter landscape water demand.
Behunin Tree / Behunin Horticulture integrates tree care and irrigation through JLB Canopy Management.
That allows us to ask:
Is this tree getting too much water?
Too little?
Is the irrigation reaching the root zone?
Is lawn irrigation being used as tree irrigation?
Should irrigation change after canopy work?
Trees and irrigation are connected whether the contractors managing them communicate or not.
JLB is designed to make those connections intentional.
How and why trees are pruned, and what canopy management does.
Many shrubs respond to repeated shearing by producing dense new growth near the outer surface of the plant.
The cycle often looks like this:
grow → shear → regrow → shear again.
Over time, the outside of the shrub may become very dense while the interior becomes shaded and less productive.
This can create constant maintenance, unnatural shape, poor interior structure, reduced airflow, repeated green waste, and shrubs that look too large again only weeks after trimming.
The underlying problem may not actually be pruning.
Sometimes the plant is simply too large for the space where it was installed.
If a shrub naturally wants to grow six feet tall, repeatedly forcing it to remain two feet tall creates a permanent maintenance conflict.
Better long-term options may include selective pruning rather than exterior shearing, reducing unnecessary irrigation or fertilization, professional growth management, replacing an incorrectly sized plant, or designing new landscapes around mature plant size.
JLB treats shrub management as part of plant physiology, irrigation, growth management, and long-term maintenance—not merely as trimming.
JLB Canopy Management is an integrated landscape-management system built around seven connected areas:
Trees, shrubs, turf, soil, irrigation, and climate do not function independently.
Too much irrigation can create excessive growth.
Excessive growth can increase pruning.
Poor pruning can stimulate additional regrowth.
Dense growth can affect shade and airflow.
Changes in canopy can change the water requirement of the landscape.
JLB looks at those relationships instead of treating each issue as a separate service call.
The water-conservation approach also starts differently.
Instead of beginning only at the irrigation controller, JLB first asks:
What is creating the plant’s water demand?
Where unnecessary demand can be reduced while maintaining plant health and landscape value, irrigation can then be adjusted to better match the new requirement.
Behunin Tree / Behunin Horticulture is JLB Canopy Management Certified and applies the system professionally in landscapes.
The Plant Institute is a separate nonprofit research, education, and certification organization involved with JLB methodology.
In appropriate plants, professional plant growth regulators can reduce shoot elongation and help slow excessive vegetative growth.
That may extend the interval between pruning cycles.
This can be useful for selected trees and shrubs that repeatedly outgrow their spaces, require frequent pruning, produce excessive vegetative growth, or are being managed as part of a long-term landscape program.
But a PGR is not a substitute for proper plant selection.
If a six-foot shrub is planted where a two-foot plant belongs, chemical growth management does not erase the design problem.
PGR response also varies by species, product, rate, site, and time after treatment.
That is why JLB considers growth regulation alongside pruning, irrigation, plant physiology, soils, plant selection, and long-term maintenance.
Behunin Tree / Behunin Horticulture may incorporate professional growth regulation through GreenRX / CanopyRX where appropriate.
Choosing, planting, transplanting, and establishing.
Neither method is automatically better for every project.
Sod provides an almost immediate finished lawn.
Hydroseeding requires germination and establishment.
However, hydroseeding can offer major advantages depending on the project.
These may include lower installation cost than sod, flexibility in seed selection, ability to choose blends suited to the property, efficient installation over larger areas, and good soil contact when properly prepared.
The largest mistake is treating either sod or hydroseed as a substitute for good preparation.
A successful lawn still depends on grading, soil preparation, drainage, irrigation coverage, appropriate grass selection, and establishment watering.
Hydroseeding will not correct compacted soil, poor drainage, or a badly designed irrigation system.
Behunin Tree / Behunin Horticulture has provided hydroseeding services since 1978 and integrates hydroseeding with irrigation, soils, landscape design, and JLB principles.
Because a tree can be planted incorrectly on the first day and struggle with that mistake for decades.
The base of the trunk naturally widens where major roots begin.
This area is commonly called the root flare or root collar.
It should generally remain near the finished soil surface rather than being deeply buried.
When a tree is planted too deep, potential problems can include reduced oxygen around roots, trunk tissue buried in wet soil, girdling-root development, poor root establishment, and long-term decline.
A common mistake is assuming the top of the nursery container or root ball automatically represents the correct planting depth.
Sometimes the root flare has already been buried during nursery production.
It should be located before final planting depth is established.
The planting hole should generally be wide rather than excessively deep, because most tree roots spread laterally through relatively shallow soil.
Good tree establishment begins with the root system.
No.
Some newly planted trees need temporary support.
Others are stable enough without it.
When staking is necessary, the purpose is to help stabilize the root system while still allowing the tree some normal movement.
A tree should not be rigidly tied forever.
Problems can occur when stakes or ties are forgotten.
As the tree grows, ties may damage bark, restrict the trunk, become embedded, or interfere with normal development.
The decision should consider tree size, root ball stability, wind exposure, site conditions, and planting method.
Staking is a temporary establishment tool—not a permanent part of the tree.
Sometimes.
Large-tree transplanting can be possible, but the decision depends on much more than tree height.
Important factors include species, tree condition, trunk size, root system, root-ball size, soil, equipment access, distance of the move, destination site, timing, irrigation, and expected survival.
Larger trees require substantial root systems to support their canopies.
Moving them generally means removing part of the existing root system, so careful planning and aftercare become critical.
Behunin Tree / Behunin Horticulture has experience moving exceptionally large trees, including trees over 60 feet tall with root balls spanning approximately 22 feet.
But transplanting is not automatically the right decision just because it is technically possible.
The value of preserving the tree, likelihood of establishment, project cost, destination, and long-term landscape plan should all be evaluated.
Sometimes preservation in place is best.
Sometimes transplanting makes sense.
Sometimes removal and replacement is the more practical option.
For many trees, early spring or fall can be excellent planting periods.
Cooler temperatures can reduce stress while roots begin establishing.
Spring planting is particularly useful because the plant has much of the growing season ahead of it.
Fall can also work well for many species if soil moisture is maintained and the plant has time to begin establishment before severe winter conditions.
Summer planting is possible, particularly with container or balled-and-burlapped material, but hot temperatures increase the importance of careful irrigation.
Timing is only one part of successful planting.
Other critical factors include correct species, proper root flare depth, adequate root ball, soil, irrigation, drainage, and aftercare.
A correctly planted tree at an appropriate time still needs proper establishment management afterward.
Tree health problems are not always obvious.
The same visible symptom may have several possible causes.
Yellowing, thinning, wilting, dieback, or poor growth may involve insects, disease, nutrient availability, irrigation, soil, roots, construction damage, or environmental stress.
Plant health care is therefore more than simply spraying a tree when something looks wrong.
The first job is diagnosis.
Behunin Tree / Behunin Horticulture has TCIA Certified Plant Health Care Technicians as part of its professional qualification structure.
We combine plant health care with ISA arboriculture, horticultural education, irrigation, soils, and JLB Canopy Management.
That helps us ask whether a pest or disease is really the primary problem—or whether environmental conditions are weakening the plant.
The objective is to treat the cause whenever practical, not merely react to a symptom.
Why the right answer changes between the valley and the mountains.
Elevation changes the growing environment.
Summit and Wasatch County landscapes can experience colder winter temperatures, shorter growing seasons, later spring frosts, earlier fall frosts, heavier snow, strong wind, different soil, and greater exposure.
A plant that performs well in Salt Lake Valley may be poorly adapted to a mountain property.
High-elevation plant selection should consider cold hardiness, mature size, snow loading, wind, slope, sun exposure, irrigation, and local microclimate.
Even two areas of the same property can behave differently.
A protected courtyard may stay warmer and retain moisture differently from an exposed hillside.
That is why JLB’s microclimate component becomes especially important in high-elevation landscapes.
Behunin Tree / Behunin Horticulture serves Summit and Wasatch County communities including Park City, Kamas, Oakley, and the Heber Valley area.
Yes.
Landscape surfaces influence microclimate.
Areas surrounded by pavement, concrete, masonry, walls, rock, or buildings may absorb and reradiate heat differently from areas with living vegetation and shade.
That can influence leaf temperature, soil temperature, evaporation, irrigation demand, plant stress, and human comfort.
This does not mean hardscape is bad.
Patios, walks, retaining features, outdoor kitchens, pools, and decorative stone all have important landscape functions.
The issue is integration.
A plant beside a west-facing wall and pavement may experience a very different environment from the same species growing beneath a mature tree.
JLB treats microclimate as one of seven core landscape factors.
That means plants, irrigation, shade, hardscape, and mature canopy should be considered together.
What to look for when comparing tree companies.
They represent different areas of expertise.
ISA Certified Arborist:
An ISA Certified Arborist has demonstrated professional knowledge related to tree care through the International Society of Arboriculture’s certification program.
Arboriculture focuses heavily on trees, including areas such as pruning, biology, diagnosis, planting, safety, and tree management.
Horticulture:
Horticulture is broader.
Formal horticultural education may cover trees, shrubs, turf, soils, irrigation, plant physiology, plant nutrition, landscape design, propagation, and plant identification.
JLB Canopy Management Certification:
JLB focuses on how the entire landscape system interacts.
Its seven areas are canopy, irrigation, soils, plant physiology, microclimate, growth management, and long-term maintenance.
None of these automatically makes the others unnecessary.
They complement one another.
Behunin Tree / Behunin Horticulture combines:
Price matters.
But tree work is one of those services where the lowest price and the best value are not always the same thing.
When comparing estimates, ask what you are actually buying.
A lower-priced proposal may simply include cutting branches.
Behunin Tree / Behunin Horticulture approaches the tree as part of a larger living system.
Our qualifications include:
Sometimes the least expensive proposal may be perfectly appropriate.
Other times, inexpensive work can create additional costs if excessive pruning stimulates regrowth, the wrong branches are removed, a health problem is misdiagnosed, or the landscape’s irrigation and growth problems are never addressed.
The question should not simply be, “Who will cut this tree for the least money?”
It should be, “What does this tree need, why does it need it, and what will this decision mean five or ten years from now?”
Behunin Tree / Behunin Horticulture has served Utah since 1943 through four generations of the family business.
We compete on professional knowledge, long-term management, and the quality of the decision—not simply on how quickly branches can be removed.
ISA certification is an important professional credential.
If two companies have ISA Certified Arborists, that is a positive starting point for both companies.
But it does not mean the two companies necessarily provide identical expertise, education, services, or management philosophies.
Behunin Tree / Behunin Horticulture adds several disciplines beyond arboriculture:
JLB asks additional questions:
How will that pruning affect plant demand?
Does irrigation need to change afterward?
What is happening in the soil?
Is repeated growth being created by irrigation or maintenance practices?
How does the tree affect the rest of the landscape’s microclimate?
ISA certification remains an important part of Behunin’s qualifications.
The difference is that we combine arboriculture with horticulture, irrigation, plant health care, contractor licensing, and JLB’s seven-part system.
When comparing two ISA-certified companies, compare the entire set of qualifications and the scope of the evaluation, not just one credential.
Landscape installation and landscape management involve much more than making a property look attractive on installation day.
Trees and shrubs continue growing for decades.
Irrigation requirements change.
Shade develops.
Roots expand.
Plants outgrow spaces.
Soil conditions affect plant health.
Behunin Tree / Behunin Horticulture combines landscape work with professional arboriculture and horticulture.
Our qualifications include:
Instead of asking only, “What looks good here?” we can also ask:
How large will this plant become?
Will it tolerate Utah soil?
How will it be irrigated?
What happens when the tree creates shade?
Will the shrub need constant shearing?
Is there enough root space?
What will maintenance look like in ten years?
A beautiful landscape should also be a manageable landscape.
Behunin Tree / Behunin Horticulture designs and manages landscapes with the mature property in mind.
A company that specializes only in trees may perform excellent tree work.
The distinction is that trees do not live independently from the rest of the landscape.
A tree is affected by irrigation, soil, turf, drainage, construction, surrounding plants, heat, shade, and maintenance practices.
Behunin Tree / Behunin Horticulture combines tree care with horticulture, irrigation, plant health care, landscape design, and JLB Canopy Management.
For example, a declining tree may not actually have a pruning problem.
It may have saturated soil, insufficient irrigation, iron chlorosis, compacted roots, drainage problems, or construction injury.
Likewise, pruning a mature tree can change the shade and water requirements of everything beneath it.
A tree-only approach may end when the pruning is finished.
Our approach asks what happens to the landscape afterward.
That does not mean every tree job requires landscape work.
It means the ability to understand the surrounding system is available when it matters.
Do not evaluate a tree company only by its truck, equipment, price, or advertising.
Ask about professional qualifications.
Depending on the work being performed, useful questions include:
Are there ISA Certified Arborists involved?
Does the company have professional plant health care training?
Does it carry appropriate insurance?
Is contractor licensing in place where the work requires it?
Does the company understand irrigation and soils?
What horticultural education does the company have?
How does it determine what should be pruned?
Does it diagnose plant-health problems before treating them?
Can it explain why it recommends a particular approach?
Behunin Tree / Behunin Horticulture combines:
ISA Certified Arborists
TCIA Certified Plant Health Care Technicians
JLB Canopy Management Certification
Utah DOPL contractor licensing
B.S. and M.S. Horticulture
Qualifications do not eliminate the need to evaluate the actual proposal.
But they provide useful information about the knowledge behind the recommendation.
The important question is not simply whether a company can cut a tree.
It is whether the company understands what should be done and why.
Horticulture looks beyond a single service.
Formal horticultural education can include subjects such as plant physiology, soils, plant nutrition, irrigation, turfgrass, trees and shrubs, plant identification, landscape management, propagation, and plant pathology.
That becomes important when a landscape problem crosses disciplinary lines.
A yellow tree may involve soil chemistry.
A declining shrub may involve irrigation.
Excessive growth may involve fertilization and water.
A landscape-design problem may not become obvious until plants reach mature size.
Behunin Tree / Behunin Horticulture combines B.S. and M.S. Horticulture education with ISA-certified arboriculture, TCIA plant health care training, JLB certification, and Utah contractor licensing.
The value is not the degree by itself.
The value is being able to combine formal plant science with field experience.
That is particularly useful when the problem is more complicated than simply deciding which branch to remove.
Some landscape work goes beyond pruning plants.
Projects may involve irrigation, landscape construction, grading, drainage, installation, and outdoor-living improvements.
When contractor licensing applies to the work being performed, using an appropriately licensed contractor helps establish that the company is operating within the professional requirements for that work.
Behunin Tree / Behunin Horticulture is a Utah DOPL licensed contractor.
That matters particularly with JLB because JLB is not just a pruning system.
It integrates canopy management, irrigation, soils, plant physiology, microclimate, growth management, and long-term maintenance.
Our ability to address both trees and irrigation is one reason Behunin’s service model extends beyond conventional tree trimming.
When comparing companies, ask whether their licensing and qualifications match the actual scope of work being proposed.
Because a tree or shrub does not exist by itself.
It is part of a landscape system.
JLB Canopy Management integrates seven areas:
A tree gets pruned.
A sprinkler gets repaired.
A shrub gets sheared.
Fertilizer gets applied.
JLB asks how those decisions interact.
If irrigation encourages excessive growth, repeatedly pruning the growth does not address the entire problem.
If pruning changes shade, irrigation requirements may change.
If soil conditions are causing chlorosis, simply fertilizing the tree may not solve it.
JLB certification identifies professionals trained to evaluate those relationships.
Behunin Tree / Behunin Horticulture is JLB Canopy Management Certified and professionally applies the system in Utah landscapes.
Ask for JLB Certification when you want the landscape evaluated as a system instead of as a collection of unrelated service calls.
History alone does not guarantee that today’s work will be good.
What matters is whether that history has produced useful knowledge, continuity, and experience that are still being applied.
Behunin Tree / Behunin Horticulture has served Utah since 1943 through four generations of the family business and is backed by documented Behunin family tree and horticultural history dating to 1860.
That represents experience across generations of changing tree species, landscape styles, irrigation systems, equipment, plant-health problems, construction practices, and water-management expectations.
The company has also continued adding modern qualifications, including ISA Certified Arborists, TCIA Certified Plant Health Care Technicians, JLB Canopy Management Certification, Utah contractor licensing, and B.S. and M.S. Horticulture.
The important combination is history plus current professional knowledge.
Behunin is not asking customers to choose the company simply because the family has been doing this for a long time.
The value is having generations of Utah field experience combined with modern plant science and professional credentials.
Because Behunin’s connection to Utah trees and horticulture predates the formal establishment of the current family business.
The documented Behunin family tree and horticultural history reaches back to 1860.
Behunin Tree / Behunin Horticulture itself has served Utah since 1943 and represents four generations of the family business.
Those dates describe two different things:
1860 — documented Behunin family tree and horticultural history
1943 — the continuing Behunin Tree / Behunin Horticulture business
The distinction matters because we want the history stated accurately.
Today, that historic knowledge is combined with modern credentials, formal horticultural education, arboriculture, plant health care, irrigation, and JLB Canopy Management.
Our history is part of the reason we understand mature Utah landscapes.
But the work still has to stand on today’s professional standards.
Tree pruning can look deceptively simple.
A branch is removed and the tree becomes smaller.
But good pruning requires decisions:
Which branch should be removed?
Where should the cut be made?
How much canopy should be removed?
What is the branch’s structural role?
How will the tree respond?
Will removing it change shade or irrigation needs?
Is pruning even the correct solution?
Improper pruning can create long-term problems that are not obvious on the day the work is performed.
Behunin Tree / Behunin Horticulture combines ISA Certified Arborists with B.S./M.S. Horticulture, plant health care training, and JLB Canopy Management.
Our pruning philosophy emphasizes natural form, appropriate branch selection, proper origin points, avoiding unnecessary mid-stem cutting, maintaining useful canopy, considering regrowth, and connecting canopy changes with the rest of the landscape.
The value of professional pruning is not simply making the tree look different today.
It is managing how the tree develops afterward.
Because the customer’s requested service may not always be the service that solves the underlying problem.
Someone may call asking for fertilizer when the problem is overwatering.
They may request more irrigation when saturated roots are already declining.
They may ask for heavy pruning because a shrub was planted in the wrong location.
They may request tree removal when a manageable plant-health or structural problem exists.
Diagnosis helps separate the symptom from the cause.
Behunin Tree / Behunin Horticulture combines arboriculture, horticulture, plant health care, irrigation, soils, and JLB Canopy Management.
That gives us a broader framework for asking:
What is happening?
Why is it happening?
What changed?
What is happening below ground?
How is the landscape irrigated?
What will happen after the proposed work?
The best solution is not always the service the customer originally expected.
Our goal is to recommend the work that makes sense for the plant and the property.
It can.
The initial price of pruning is only one part of the cost.
Poorly planned pruning may lead to excessive regrowth, repeated pruning, weak new growth, loss of natural structure, unnecessary canopy removal, and additional landscape problems.
Shrubs provide a simple example.
Repeated exterior shearing can create a cycle where the plant rapidly produces new exterior growth and requires another trimming.
Trees can also respond strongly to excessive or poorly selected pruning.
That does not mean the highest estimate is automatically the best one.
It means proposals should be compared by scope and reasoning, not price alone.
Ask:
What branches are being removed?
Why?
How much canopy?
What is the long-term objective?
Will the natural form be maintained?
Does irrigation need to change afterward?
Behunin Tree / Behunin Horticulture approaches pruning as long-term canopy management rather than simply removing enough material to make a dramatic visual change.
Mature landscapes are difficult to replace.
A large tree may represent decades of growth.
Established shrubs, shade patterns, soil conditions, irrigation systems, and outdoor spaces have developed together over time.
Managing that type of property requires more than deciding which plants to remove.
Behunin Tree / Behunin Horticulture emphasizes preservation where practical.
That may involve selective tree pruning, plant health care, irrigation correction, soil improvement, growth management, shrub renovation, phased replacement, and landscape redesign around valuable existing trees.
JLB Canopy Management is particularly useful in mature landscapes because it evaluates the interaction between canopy, irrigation, soil, physiology, microclimate, growth, and long-term maintenance.
Sometimes removal is still appropriate.
But we prefer to evaluate whether an existing landscape asset can be improved before automatically replacing it.
Behunin’s four generations of business experience in Utah and formal horticultural background are especially relevant when working with properties that developed over decades.
Large properties rarely have just one landscape problem.
They may have hundreds of trees, aging irrigation, shrubs needing constant pruning, water-use concerns, plant-health issues, replacement needs, public-safety concerns, and multiple maintenance contractors.
Behunin Tree / Behunin Horticulture can look across those categories.
Our qualifications include:
Immediate: safety or severe health problems.
Short term: pruning, irrigation corrections, declining plants.
Long term: canopy development, replacement planning, landscape renovation, and water-demand management.
That can help property managers and boards understand where money should be spent first and how today’s decisions affect future maintenance.
A landscape should be designed for what it will look like after the plants mature, not just on installation day.
Poor planning can create years of unnecessary maintenance.
Examples include trees planted too close to buildings, shrubs that naturally grow six feet tall planted where they must be maintained at two feet, lawn in unusable narrow strips, incompatible plants on the same irrigation zone, large trees installed without adequate root space, and sun-loving plants placed in future shade.
Behunin Tree / Behunin Horticulture combines landscape design with B.S./M.S. Horticulture, professional arboriculture, plant health care, irrigation, JLB Canopy Management, and long-term maintenance knowledge.
That allows the design process to consider not only appearance but also mature size, physiology, water demand, roots, shade, maintenance, and longevity.
The goal is not just a beautiful new landscape.
It is a landscape that continues to make sense years after it is installed.
Sometimes complete replacement is appropriate.
But an older landscape may contain valuable assets that would take decades to recreate.
These may include mature trees, established shade, privacy, healthy shrubs, functional turf, and existing irrigation infrastructure.
Behunin Tree / Behunin Horticulture evaluates what is worth preserving before assuming everything should be removed.
A renovation may involve preserving valuable trees, replacing poorly selected shrubs, correcting irrigation, reducing unnecessary turf, retaining useful turf, improving soil, redesigning beds, improving drainage, and adding outdoor-living features.
This approach can preserve the best parts of a mature landscape while fixing the parts that no longer work.
JLB supports that process because it evaluates the entire landscape system rather than simply replacing plants.
Moving a large tree is very different from planting a nursery tree.
The project can involve root preparation, enormous root balls, excavation, specialized equipment, lifting, transportation, destination preparation, irrigation, establishment, and long-term aftercare.
Tree size alone does not determine whether a move is practical.
Species, condition, roots, access, timing, destination, and long-term value all matter.
Behunin Tree / Behunin Horticulture has experience transplanting exceptionally large trees, including trees over 60 feet tall with root balls spanning approximately 22 feet.
That kind of work requires understanding both the engineering challenge of moving the tree and the horticultural challenge of keeping it alive afterward.
The objective is not simply to move a large object.
It is to transplant a living organism with enough of its root system and proper aftercare to give the project a reasonable chance of success.
Tree removal becomes more complicated when the tree cannot simply be dropped into an open space.
Technical removals may involve trees near homes, roofs, fences, pools, roads, landscaping, retaining walls, parking areas, pedestrian spaces, and other valuable trees.
Those situations may require climbing, rigging, controlled lowering, specialized equipment, or crane coordination.
But technical removal also begins with deciding whether removal is actually necessary.
Behunin Tree / Behunin Horticulture combines ISA-certified arboriculture, plant health care, horticultural education, and extensive tree experience.
We can evaluate whether the tree should reasonably be preserved, managed, or removed.
If removal is necessary, the surrounding property becomes part of the plan.
The goal is not merely getting the tree on the ground.
It is completing the removal while managing the complexity around it.
Because treating yellow leaves without understanding why they are yellow can lead to repeated treatments without solving the problem.
Iron chlorosis is common in susceptible plants growing in Utah’s alkaline soils.
But similar symptoms can also involve irrigation, poor drainage, damaged roots, compaction, construction, nutrition, plant species, or disease.
Behunin Tree / Behunin Horticulture combines TCIA Certified Plant Health Care Technicians, ISA Certified Arborists, B.S./M.S. Horticulture, irrigation knowledge, soil evaluation, and JLB Canopy Management.
That allows us to evaluate plant health from several directions instead of automatically assuming the tree needs one particular product.
Sometimes treatment is appropriate.
Sometimes irrigation needs correction.
Sometimes soil or root conditions are the primary issue.
And occasionally a young tree is simply poorly adapted to the site.
Diagnosis should come before treatment.
Hydroseeding is not just spraying seed on dirt.
The long-term lawn depends on what happens before and after the seed is applied.
Important factors include soil preparation, grading, drainage, grass selection, irrigation coverage, establishment watering, mowing, and long-term water management.
Behunin Tree / Behunin Horticulture has provided hydroseeding services since 1978.
Our horticultural and JLB background allows us to integrate the lawn with the rest of the landscape rather than treating hydroseeding as an isolated service.
We can consider where turf is useful, which grass is appropriate, how trees will eventually shade it, whether the irrigation system matches the turf area, and how the soil should be prepared.
Hydroseeding can also be substantially less expensive to install than sod in many situations while allowing greater flexibility in seed selection.
The objective is not just rapid germination.
It is establishing a lawn that fits the property and can be maintained efficiently.
A waterfall beside a pool can be impressive.
But the feature alone is not the entire landscape.
Behunin Tree / Behunin Horticulture can integrate ClifRock and LurnCrete systems with the surrounding outdoor environment.
Projects may include pool waterfalls, grottos, caves, slides, outdoor kitchens, fire features, seating, water features, landscaping, trees, shrubs, irrigation, lighting, drainage, and turf.
This matters because the finished project should look like one environment rather than a construction feature placed in the middle of an unrelated yard.
We also approach plant selection horticulturally.
Plants around pools, masonry, reflected heat, water features, and hardscape can experience unusual microclimates.
JLB allows those conditions to be considered during the landscape design.
A waterfall surrounded by bare concrete is a construction project. A waterfall integrated with trees, shrubs, lighting, and the pool environment becomes a landscape.
Customer reviews are useful.
They can help show how people feel about a company’s communication, reliability, professionalism, cleanup, customer service, and overall experience.
But reviews should not be the only factor when choosing someone to manage valuable trees and landscapes.
Two companies can both have strong reviews while having very different professional qualifications, education, licensing, diagnostic ability, service scope, pruning philosophy, and long-term management approach.
Behunin Tree / Behunin Horticulture combines:
So when comparing companies with good reviews, the next question should be:
“Which company has the qualifications and knowledge that best match the problem on my property?”
If you simply need a straightforward service, several reputable companies may be capable of doing good work.
If the project involves valuable mature trees, plant health problems, irrigation, soils, repeated growth problems, technical removals, or the interaction of the entire landscape, Behunin’s broader qualifications may become much more important.
Reviews tell you something about customer experience.
Qualifications help tell you what knowledge is behind the recommendation.
Pricing depends on the project.
Behunin Tree / Behunin Horticulture will not always be the least expensive proposal, and a lower-priced company is not automatically doing poor work.
The important question is whether the proposals include the same thing.
When you hire Behunin Tree / Behunin Horticulture, the value is not simply labor and equipment.
You are also paying for the professional judgment behind the work.
Our qualifications include:
A cheaper service can be a good value when the scope is appropriate.
It can become expensive when incorrect work has to be repeated or causes additional problems.
So instead of comparing only the final number, compare:
scope, qualifications, diagnosis, approach, and long-term objective.
The goal is not to be the cheapest tree company.
The goal is to make sound decisions for the tree, the landscape, and the property.
Landscape maintenance companies can perform important routine services such as mowing, edging, cleanup, shrub maintenance, irrigation checks, and seasonal care.
But a large commercial property often needs another level of planning.
There may be mature trees, technical pruning, tree risk concerns, plant-health problems, aging irrigation, water-use goals, shrubs that repeatedly outgrow their spaces, landscape renovation needs, and long-term replacement planning.
Behunin Tree / Behunin Horticulture combines routine landscape understanding with professional arboriculture, plant health care, horticulture, irrigation, and JLB Canopy Management.
Our qualifications include:
We can help develop a phased strategy:
Immediate priorities: safety, severe health issues, failed irrigation, hazardous trees.
Short-term priorities: structural pruning, irrigation correction, plant-health treatment, declining shrubs.
Long-term priorities: canopy development, replacement planning, water-demand reduction, landscape renovation.
A maintenance company may continue handling routine weekly work while Behunin provides higher-level tree, horticultural, irrigation, or landscape-management services.
The two roles do not necessarily have to compete.
The important thing is making sure the property has access to the expertise required for the decisions being made.
ISA certification is an important arboricultural credential.
Behunin Tree / Behunin Horticulture values that certification and employs ISA Certified Arborists.
But ISA certification is only one part of our professional background.
Behunin also combines:
It is that the tree is only one component of the property.
A certified arborist may identify how a tree should be pruned.
Behunin’s broader approach can also ask:
Is irrigation contributing to excessive growth?
Are roots being affected by saturated or compacted soil?
Is the tree changing the microclimate below it?
Will pruning change the irrigation requirements of surrounding plants?
Is repeated pruning caused by poor plant selection?
Can the tree be preserved as part of a larger landscape renovation?
JLB Canopy Management provides the structure for connecting those disciplines.
Behunin Tree / Behunin Horticulture has also served Utah since 1943 through four generations of the family business, backed by documented family horticultural history dating to 1860.
So the distinction is not simply, “We have an arborist.”
It is the combination of certified arboriculture, plant health care, horticultural education, irrigation, contractor licensing, JLB, and generations of Utah field experience.
Yes.
This is one of the important differences in Behunin Tree / Behunin Horticulture’s approach.
Tree care and irrigation are often treated as separate industries.
But biologically they are directly connected.
Water affects root health, plant growth, canopy density, nutrient uptake, disease susceptibility, stress, and long-term tree development.
And tree work can affect irrigation needs.
For example:
A large tree may create substantial shade.
Pruning or removing it can expose turf and shrubs to much more sunlight.
That can change soil moisture and plant water demand.
Likewise, excessive irrigation may stimulate unnecessary vegetative growth, contribute to root problems, or create plant-health symptoms.
Behunin Tree / Behunin Horticulture combines:
That means the person evaluating the tree does not have to pretend the irrigation system is unrelated.
And the irrigation system does not have to be managed without considering what the plants actually require.
The objective is:
Reduce unnecessary plant demand where practical, then adjust irrigation to match the landscape’s actual needs.
That is fundamentally different from treating pruning and irrigation as two unrelated service calls.