Is my tree healthy?

This is one of the most asked questions when clients notice changes in a tree within their landscape. The health of a tree can be broadly defined as structural or physiological health.  With broadleaf trees, somewhere in the region of 97% of the above-ground structure is comprised of dead material from previous vascular flow areas that should now ideally be hard, sound biomass. The physiological health of the tree is determined by its ability to maximize the use of red light during the photosynthetic process that occurs within the chloroplast of the leaf. Structural health is vital to maintain the tree in its present position, enabling it to capture light, and it can be assessed using tools such as sonic tomography scans and AI loading analysis. We test physiological health by analyzing chlorophyll fluorescence in the leaf. A tree, therefore, can be structurally sound but physiologically unhealthy or structurally unsound but physiologically healthy.