Walking through a forest

Tree Forums | Ask an Arborist | Forums | Rating

Copyright 2010 - Review by M. D. Vaden of Oregon, USA Arborist. This page reviews arborist forums or tree forums online, where questions and answers can be posted. These tree forums are sources of ideas, knowledge and tips. Some forums have homeowner assistance, but are not a substitute for hiring an arborist. The info below is an estimation for quality, compentency and user-friendliness of several forums. The competence factor is based on numbers of arborists on the forum, courtesy, experience, transparency, flexibility and professionalism. Plus speed of replies. All these tree or arborist websites have a forum somewhere. One site is worth visiting even though its not a forum: Online Seminars for Municiple Arborists. CEUs are available.

Tree Forum Name
Country
Competence, education, ability
Overall manners, conduct and user-friendliness
Comments
Rating
           
Tree Buzz
www.treebuzz.com
USA
Very Good
Registered Users
4995
Excellent. Fine for almost any age Posting of photos available. Freedom for debate and some colorful language, but pretty darn clean.
A+
Arbtalk / Arb Talk
http://arbtalk.co.uk/forum
UK
Very Good
Registered Users
5633
Excellent. Fine for almost any age. For politeness, this is by far my favorite tree forum: reason for double + + Posting of photos. Welcoming to USA arborists. Plenty of general tree information and more.
A++
Arborist Site
www.arboristsite.com
USA
Good
Registered Users
48,779
Good. Recommended for age 15 and above Posting photos . One of the most visited tree service forums. Should boot more members, but remains tolerant.Seems to prioritize numbers over quality.
A-
UBC Botanical
Garden

www.ubcbotanicalgarden.org
Some topics archived now
Canada

Botanical more so than tree care
Very Good
But keep in mind that anybody can post.
Registered Users
26,027
Excellent. Fine for all ages

If the whole site were trees, it would be an A +
Posting of photos. Stems from a university education center. Some categories are archived now. This is an A+ forum for Japanese maple information .
B
The Treehouse
Masterblaster's Lounge

http://masterblasterhome.com
USA
Seasoned
Registered Users
313
Some content hinges on crude or "R". Age 18 and enter with thick skin. Some polite users too. The tree care topics are not as prolific as the climbing, rigging and gear posts. Just upgraded this rating to B. Posting of photos. The atmosphere is like a tavern of tree forums. A melting pot of tree workers, climbers, etc..
B
Garden Web
www.gardenweb.com
Look for the tree category
USA
So-So to Good
Pretty good, with isolated snarky remarks. Quite a few tree geeks and fanatics. Haven for sharing Japanese maple information and photos. All ages Posting of photos using HTML and image host. There are many categories. Find the forum specified as Trees
C
Tree World
www.treeworld.info
Australia
Good
Registered Users
6711
Can be friendly on the surface. But has a negative undercurrent. Age 18 - 21 to deal with potential manipulation. For tree care interaction online, the closest thing to the Berlin Wall or Iron Curtain. Its not by accident that aborist interaction from abroad is limited. Posting of photos available. Many a decent arborist joined this forum simply to leave for a better. Does not live up to its original promoted purpose. Video was a strength. Has a reasonably good amount of tree facts and topics.
D-
UK Tree Care / UKTC
http://www.tree-care.info
Due to thick advertising, that's the direct forum URL
UK
Unknown "team of arborists" and others
Content is clean. All ages. If replies were abundant, with arborist identification, this would be an easy B Slowest. Questions not replied to for up to 24 days. Hard to navigate. Thick with ads. Users too anonymous.
F
Forestry Forums
USA
Various Users
No Longer Recommended This forum was added as a favorable act, even though it was more forestry than arboricultural. Following a couple of messages from that site's Administrator, plus negative and abrasive posting by others there, I see no need to recommend it anymore.
NA