Urban Arborists

What the company does

• Provides complete tree care and diagnostic services for trees and shrubs.
• Serves municipalities, institutions, landscape architects and private clients.
• Works on projects ranging from a single terrace tree to large city parks and major institutions.

Approach to tree care

Urban Arborists is modeled after a doctor's office. Their work is guided by the principle "first, do no harm" and focuses on:

• Carefully assessing tree health before recommending work.
• Pruning, planting, diagnosing and caring for a wide range of woody plants.
• Creating tree protection plans and woody plant inventories.
• Guiding long-term succession planting in gardens, parks and streetscapes.

Many client relationships span decades, with the team managing the health and vitality of trees and shrubs over the long term.

Planting

• Manages planting projects from a single tree to large-scale installations.
• Typical planting seasons are March–May and October–December.
• Recommends species, cultivars and forms suited to each site and client goal.
• Works with existing soils whenever possible and improves soil conditions, including expanding street tree pits so trees have more room to thrive.

Pruning

• Prunes to improve safety, repair damage, improve structure and health, refine shape or meet aesthetic goals.
• Prunes only as much as necessary after discussing priorities with the client.
• Has strong expertise in formal pruning such as ornamental pollarding, coppicing and aerial hedging.

Tree emergencies

• Has extensive experience responding to storm-related tree failures and hazardous conditions.
• Can mobilize quickly for emergency work when trees are severely compromised or have fallen.

Tree removal and stump grinding

• Performs removals only when necessary, with particular expertise in complex removals in tight urban spaces.
• Carefully dismantles large and hazardous trees while protecting surrounding buildings, gardens and plantings.

Transplanting

• Transplants valuable, relatively young trees that cannot remain where they are.
• Routinely transplants trees up to approximately 8–10" DBH, following an assessment of the tree and both sites.

Consultations and inventories

• Provides fee-based consulting for construction and landscape design projects.
• Services include tree inventories, on-site supervision, succession planning and related arboricultural consulting.

Diagnostics and plant health care

• ISA-certified arborists diagnose diseases, pests and other issues.
• Provides targeted treatments for specific pests on specific plants, only after a diagnosis.
• Treats only when an issue is present in sufficient numbers to cause harm and at a time when the pest is vulnerable.
• Follows biorational guidelines and seeks the least toxic effective option, with strictly organic options available on request.

Street trees and institutional work

• Prunes, plants and cares for New York City street trees, including handling the city permit process for clients.
• Manages woody plants for institutions and public spaces that are used by thousands of people every day.

To request work or schedule a complimentary estimate visit, clients can use the booking options on the Urban Arborists website or contact the office directly.

• Phone: (718) 522-0612
• Email: info@urbanarb.com

The best way to reach Urban Arborists to discuss tree, shrub and landscape needs is to submit the contact form on their website.

Location

Urban Arborists is based at:

185 Van Brunt Street Brooklyn, NY 11231 United States

Payments by check can be mailed to:

Urban Arborists BTH LLC 431 Fayette Ave Mamaroneck, NY 10543

Service area

Urban Arborists focuses on urban and suburban landscapes in the New York City region. Their work includes projects in:

• Brooklyn and other New York City boroughs
• Manhattan and major institutions throughout the city
• Nearby communities including locations in Westchester County and New Jersey

For questions about whether a specific property is within their service area, clients should contact the office.

Lists Westchester, Central, Charlotte, Cornelius, Tyler, Wayne, Brooklyn, and Jackson Heights as a location. Names New Jersey, United States, Manhattan, and New York City as a service area. Areas beyond these are not published.

• Founder of Urban Arborists; now serves as a consulting arborist for the company.
• Teaches pruning, tree identification and a master class in tree care at the New York Botanical Garden.
• Has lectured at major botanical gardens across the United States.
• Author of multiple natural history books about trees, soil and air.
• Has written and edited for national publications and served as a garden columnist.
• Acts as a sought-after consultant to landscape architects, municipalities, companies and individuals.

Tyler Cook – Lead Arborist

• ISA Certified Arborist and TRAQ certified.
• Brings extensive hands-on experience in arboriculture and natural area management.
• Previously managed 15 acres of natural landscapes with the Central Park Conservancy.
• Experienced climber with strong skills in assessing tree health, including fungal-related issues.
• Has supported projects at major New York City institutions and public spaces.

Wayne Kammerer – Inventory Arborist

• Tree inventory specialist who joined Urban Arborists in 2015.
• Holds a certificate in Arboriculture from the New York Botanical Garden and is an ISA Certified Arborist.
• Has a longstanding connection to trees and landscapes through both personal and professional experience.

Wider team

In addition to these key staff, Urban Arborists employs a crew of trained tree workers and arboricultural professionals who carry out pruning, planting, removals, diagnostics and project work throughout the New York City region.

Types of projects

• Tree inventories and management plans for major city parks, including long-term succession planning.
• Ongoing care of large collections of trees and shrubs on institutional campuses and privately owned public spaces.
• Formal training and long-term care of trees for high-profile cultural institutions.
• Restoration and renewal of shared courtyards, medians and common gardens in dense urban neighbourhoods.

Selected examples

• Significant park landscape – Performed a tree inventory that guided a major park renovation, has cared for more than 200 trees there for over a decade, and helped prepare a century-scale succession plan.
• Divine trees – Plants, diagnoses and cares for all trees and shrubs on a 13-acre Manhattan campus belonging to a church, including planting for new gardens and playgrounds and ongoing maintenance over decades.
• Double allée – Designed and maintained an allée of formally pruned hornbeams for a private New Jersey garden, turning 24 trees into a matched double allée of standards.
• Preserving beauty through construction – Used careful investigation and pruning to allow a large weeping cherry on a Manhattan property to be preserved during a house addition.
• Shared garden – Cared for historic and notable trees in a shared Midtown Manhattan garden, including propagating a cutting from E.B. White's "Second Tree from the Corner" to preserve its legacy.
• Elegant Manhattan median – Controlled a serious insect pest on mature cherry trees in a prominent public green space and continues to provide pruning and plant care, including supplying flowering plants, trees and shrubs.
• NYC historic trees – Performs climbing inspections and tree risk assessments for some of New York City Parks Department's great trees, many of which are very old and over 90 feet tall.
• Courtyard renewal – Has worked for over two decades with garden-centred apartment complexes in Jackson Heights, gradually replanting and shaping woody plants into a cohesive large garden.

These projects illustrate Urban Arborists' ability to manage complex, long-term tree care for parks, institutions, business improvement districts and shared urban landscapes.

Ask anyway — the agent will say plainly that it is not published rather than guess.