From the bottom up – and then into the crown
I grew up in Luxembourg and didn't come to tree care by the straight path. After years in social and care work, I jumped in at the deep end and started in vegetable growing and fruit culture – at the very bottom of the chain, with hoe, hedge trimmer and brushcutter. From there I worked my way up over the years: into tree care, onto the rope, into the crown, to tree inspection – most recently a year in the team at Arbor360, alongside my own business.
The path was always the same: lots of practice, with targeted blocks of theory in between. Chainsaw and felling technique at the CNFPC, rope climbing, aerial platform, species protection, FLL tree inspector – something new every year, to this day. Not theory first and practice someday, but the other way round: first see what the tree does, then understand why. I think that's the better order, and I've resolved never to stop – the next steps are called European Tree Worker (ETW) and European Tree Technician (ETT).
Why the business is called Tréleidir is told on a little page of its own.
The fruit tree has remained my root. In the intensive course Bongert of the Natur- & Geopark Mëllerdall I specialised in standard orchards – old Luxembourg varieties, their care and their preservation are a cause of my own.
Why I pass it on
Because I know the path from the bottom, I know where it gets stuck for others. Not everyone who is good with trees has the desire or the means to study arboriculture for years. But with the right practice at your side and well-chosen courses at the accredited providers, you can get very far – I've lived it. That's why I take the people who work with me along in the practical work and lead them step by step to the trainings that suit them. There is no fixed curriculum for that, and that's deliberate: not everyone wants to climb, not everyone needs the platform, and the tree inspector exam is demanding enough that it isn't the right next step for everyone. What someone learns follows their strengths and their pace – not my path. My goal isn't just a good business: I want the quality of tree care in Luxembourg to rise a good deal overall – until we have plenty of good arborists here and no tree has to be topped any more just because nobody was around who could do better.
For this, an education fund is being planned that sets aside a small share of every job – for the training of my own people and of those still to come.