After about a decade of driving a corporate desk our founder, Richard Wood, finally realized it would never be his passion.

So he did something about it. In the spring of 1993 he walked out of the corporate world and started what we now know as Trees Vermont.

In 1993, with his IBM PS2 Model 25 computer, Richard created his first flyer advertising driveway seal coating services. He spent $26 to have copies made and went door to door handing out flyers in neighborhoods throughout the Burlington area.

As business took off he realized that caring for driveways meant snow removal so rolling his earnings back into the business he purchased his first snow plow. Plowing soon led to requests for lawn care so commercial mowers and other equipment to begin fill his shop.

For 5 years lawn care and snow plowing formed the foundation of his business. With each passing year Richard realized that mowing lawns, like driving a corporate desk, would never be his passion.

Then the Great Northeast Ice Storm of January 1998 hit. The damage to Vermont's trees was extensive. Richard's lawn care clients were in desperate need of help with their trees and he stepped up to the challenge.

With each passing day Richard's reputation of being a knowledgeable and quality tree care provider grew and so did his client base.

By that fall Richard realized he had a true passion for trees and tree work. Once again he rolled his earnings back into the business and began the process of growing the tree care side of the business.

By 2001 He had acquired a bucket truck and chipper. Finally, in the fall of 2002 he decided he had mowed his last lawn, and by the spring of 2003, plowed his last driveway.

That summer he changed the business to exclusively tree care. Along with that came a name change: Arborcare by RF Wood.

It rapidly became apparent that there was a huge need for intelligent tree care and the best way he could provide it would be to formalize his credentialing. With encouragement from his friend and colleague Jordan Voelker Richard sat for the ISA Certified Arborist Exam in April of 2004 and became ISA Certified Arborist #NE-6308A.

In the fall of 2004 Mother Nature put her hands into shaping the Company. Late that summer Florida had been hit hard by Hurricane Charlie, the first of several devastating Hurricanes to pass through the state that year.

Arborcare by RF Wood was invited to travel to Port Charlotte (where Charlie made landfall) to inspect the devastation. What started as a fact finding mission resulted in a 3-year winter season presence in Charlotte County Florida doing much needed restoration and mitigation work.

With this tremendous broadening of knowledge, experience and skill, along with earning a reputation for tree restoration, Arborcare by RF Wood not only grew, it became more committed to arboriculture and the application of proven science to tree care.

To better reflect this Richard decided to restructure and rename the company in January of 2005.

Since the company was wintering in Florida it seemed that a name reflecting that would be appropriate but the most common word for that, "SnowBird" just wouldn't do.

Richard then remembered childhood stories of the legendary French-Canadian fur trappers of the 17th and 18th centuries who would disappear into the wilds at the end of autumn and reappear the following spring. They were known as "les Hivernant", the Winterers.

And, since intelligent tree care is done by Arborists, the choice was clear. Wintering Arborist gave rise to the new name, Hivernant Arborists.

In his continued commitment to excellence and qualifications Richard led the entire staff of Hivernant Arborists to become ISA Certified Tree Workers/Climber Specialists in 2008. Following that in November of 2010 Richard went on to become the first private sector ISA Board Certified Master Arborist in Vermont.

By the end of 2013 Richard completed qualification training to become the first ISA Qualified Tree Risk Assessor in Vermont, also graduating from the American Society of Consulting Arborists Prestigious Consulting Academy.

In 2014 Richard became a Tree Care Industry Association Certified Tree Safety Professional and received approval as a TCIA instructor in numerous subjects.

On January 1, 2017, the company changed its name again. Focusing solely on Vermont Clients and Trees, along with a much more engaged and educated client base made choice of the new name simple: Trees Vermont.

From 2006 until about 2018 Trees Vermont worked with young people enrolled from the Urban Forestry Training Program through the Federal Job Corps. We gave the students real-life on the job training and one-on-one mentoring. We are proud to say that several of these students have gone on to stellar careers in urban and wild land forestry.

In 2018 Trees Vermont streamlined its operations by focusing on performing Plant Health Care, diagnosis and treatment services and entering into a cooperative working relationship with another local independent arborist to perform general tree work services.

Trees Vermont's wealth of knowledge grows daily ensuring that we stay on the cutting edge of advances in this exciting field.

More than ever, Trees Vermont is committed to excellence, science and intelligent thought in both the arboricultural industry and the business community.

Above all, we never lose sight of our primary responsibility, You.

It is our hope & purpose to touch the lives of those around us in a positive way every day. We hope that in some way, however small, we have brought a ray of hope, peace or happiness into your life today.

And please remember, Life and happiness are choices, let's all choose to enjoy living!