Tyler Balderson, Tree Hugger and Arboriculturist at Bartlett Tree Experts, on the importance of knowing your trees~

"Being a board certified master arborist, the most important part is to be able to identify the tree. Each tree has either its mechanism of growth, or its concerns that I need to identify for the client, but there's also bad trees, there are trees we don't want on your property, and we call those invasive species. . . they can impact the health and growth of a tree that we do want."

Tyler Balderson - Tree Hugger and Arboriculturist, Bartlett Tree Experts and host Andy Ockershausen in-studio interview

Andy Ockershausen: This is Our Town, and this Andy Ockershausen. And I'm just so excited to welcome a very special guest, my favorite tree hugger. And I use that term in all affection. This man is a very, very famous forester. He's famous because I think he's famous. We found him as the local manager at Bartlett Tree Experts about probably 15 to 20 years ago, Tyler. It's been a great relationship. Tyler Balderson, welcome to Our Town.Tyler Balderson: Thanks for having me.Andy Ockershausen: Isn't this a great town to have Our Town?Tyler Balderson: It's a great town.Andy Ockershausen: Even though we're familiar with you with Anne Arundel County, that's part of Our Town. We've always considered it that. Odenton where you had some ... that's where your office is, in Odenton.Tyler Balderson: That is correct.Andy Ockershausen: But you're a local yokel.Tyler Balderson is Homegrown, A Local YokelTyler Balderson: I'm a local yokel. Born and raised.Andy Ockershausen: In Bethesda.Tyler Balderson: In Bethesda, yep.Andy Ockershausen: Went to the school in Bethesda, and your family ... and your father, Andy, is a business man in Bethesda, he had your company before you were born, I would imagine.Tyler Balderson: He did. He's a landscape architect. He's been practicing it for over 40 years now.Andy Ockershausen: And he decided that you'd be a tree person, but you're not an architect, you're a forester.Balderson is a Natural Born Tree HuggerTyler Balderson: That is correct. Yeah, I was born and raised in a nursery, where he founded our house, and so born and raised around trees. Naturally, I'm going to take care of them.Andy Ockershausen: Did you cut down trees to build your house?Tyler Balderson: No. I'm a tree hugger. I don't cut trees.Andy Ockershausen: You did just the opposite. You would've loved George Washington, right, he cut down a tree and his parents put him in trouble.Tyler Balderson: That is correct.Andy Ockershausen: That's part of Our Town, too, Mount Vernon, you know.First Professional Gig - Elm Trees at Mount VernonTyler Balderson: Mount Vernon, we take care of the trees at Mount Vernon.Andy Ockershausen: Is that right?Tyler Balderson: Absolutely.Andy Ockershausen: Your company does?Tyler Balderson: Yep, I personally have been injecting those elm trees for years before, when I got started in tree care, so I personally had taken care of those trees for Mount Vernon.Andy Ockershausen: When you were in Bethesda?Tyler Balderson: Mm-hmm (affirmative), Bethesda, yep, when I first started out.Andy Ockershausen: Well, you've always lived in Bethesda before you went to college, correct?Tyler Balderson: Correct.Our Town Legacy - Three GenerationsAndy Ockershausen: And the family is back, and your grandfather was born in the city, correct?Tyler Balderson: Correct, yeah.Andy Ockershausen: Within the city limits.