by: Board Certified Master Arborist, Gilbert A Smith
Backyard Wisdom - April/May 2020

Fifty years ago when I was a young “tree skinner” Yes, that’s what they called us and with good reason. I was taught to paint all of the cuts that I made with tree tar. That was the measure of a good job. My father would say, “I saw a lot of ‘white eyes’ in the trees you trimmed today.” What an insult! “White eyes” were the newly exposed round tree cuts that looked like eyes on the branches.