Arborist Spotlight Isobel Watson

Sherrilltree recently spoke with UK arborist Isobel Watson about what she loves about climbing and how she got into this business.

• What drew you to this line of work?
• The outdoors, the adrenaline and the hard work!

• What have you done to grow your business?
• Going to college, working hard to build up a client base and pushing myself to climb bigger trees, while getting over my fear of spiking.

• What are your goals for your business?
• As well as subcontracting, I’d like to buy my own truck, chipper and be able to hire a few others to grow my company. Eventually I’d like to end up assessing trees or as a tree officer when I’m too old to climb.

• What have you learned so far about this business that you can share with our readers?
• Just keep pushing yourself. It’s much better being your own boss, but it’s a lot of work.

• What change, if any, would like to see in this industry?
• It’s getting better all the time, but I’d love to see more acceptance of female arborist.

• What inspires you?
• Arborist who have pride in their work and have very advanced skills.

• Tell me about your favorite day at work?
• A sunny day taking down some big trees with rigging and speedlining. To make it even better, means a day with people I enjoy working with and great customers who keep us well refreshed with food and drinks!

• What is your favorite climbing system and why?
• I love the rope runner for SRT with its midline attachability and the fact that it’s compact enough to pull yourself right into the stem. For DRT climbing I like the ZigZag. Both are smooth devices.

• What is your go to rope for climbing and why?
• I love the Yale Scandere rope for climbing on SRT as it’s not to wiry and not too springy.

• What is your favorite piece of arborist equipment and why?
• The CMI Shembiner XL hook, attached on the harness, is one of my favorite things. Nice and easy to pop your chainsaw on and off when needed!

• Lastly, is there a type of tree you love to climb and one you hate?
• I like to climb Birch trees because they are easy trees to manipulate and the timber isn’t too dense to lift. I don’t like climbing Leyland conifers; they are dirty and scratch the crap out of your arms!

• Thanks, Isobel, for taking the time to talk to us! We love following you @izzy_rascal5 to see what you and other arborists are up to in the UK!