PESTICIDES & FERTILIZERS Branch Out with Microinjection

Trees can make or break a property. For some prospective homebuyers, an evergreen timberline flanking a lot or a solitary ash tree anchoring a front-yard landscape can turn a possible purchase into a done-deal.

Aesthetic qualities aside, trees improve property values by as much as 25 percent depending on size, type, location and health, according to the Tree Care Industry Association (TCIA). Trees also shade and insulate properties, creating heating and cooling savings. They can block up to 90 percent of solar radiation, which naturally cools a home and can increase an air conditioning unit’s efficiency by 10 percent, according to the U.S. Department of Energy. In addition, properly placed trees can reduce winter heating bills by 15 percent, the TCIA says.
 
It’s no wonder customers opt to pay up when these organic assets are threatened. Customers’ willingness to protect trees – especially in a global economy where insects like the Asian Long-Horned Beetle and Emerald Ash Borer (EAB) can be transported from one locale to the next – presents a profitable opportunity for contractors to branch out into tree care services like microinjection.
 
“Landscape companies can include microinjection very simply in their organizations,” says Wayne White, sole proprietor of Emerald Tree Care, White Lake, Mich. Before spinning off his own company last year, White, a board-certified master arborist, worked for Great Oaks Maintenance, Novi, Mich., building up a base of tree-care clients. Since 2002 he’s been attacking EAB using microinjection treatments as one part of his remedy.
 
Adding microinjection to a landscape company’s list of services is a solid idea, White says, pointing out that this is especially true for companies that guarantee plant material on new installations. “If you’re going to have a warranty for plant care, why don’t you recommend to people how to take care of their plants?” he says. “Microinjection is an effective method for treating trees with insecticides, fungicides, fertilizers, micronutrients and plant growth regulators.”
 
Jim Haas, president of Lincoln Tree Service, Lincoln, Neb., explains that landscape maintenance companies are poised to reap microinjection revenue. “When you’re out mowing lawns that puts you on an awful lot of properties,” he says. “Especially when mowing – you’re already out there 36 times a year. Those are opportunities to sell additional services.”
 
He recommends contractors make use of the power of suggestion. “The best way to sell microinjection is to be out there letting customers know if there are tree problems and that you can take care of them.” Like other add-ons, many consumers would rather pay one provider they know and trust for multiple services than gamble with hiring a new contractor.

THE BASICS. Commercial microinjection, which has been around since the 1950s, has spawned two major application methods: low-pressure and high-pressure. Both require the use of concentrated systemic pesticides, which are injected into trees and then transported throughout by their vascular systems. The difference lies in how the chemical is mainlined into the tree (for a side-by-side comparison of the two methods, see “Low-Pressure vs. High-Pressure” on page 82).
 
Low-pressure injection, the older method of the two, is also known as “passive infusion,” says Nate Dodds, president of J.J. Mauget, Arcadia, Calif. Dodds likens the low-pressure approach to an IV drip a human receives in the hospital.
 
The applicator drills a hole (typically ¼ inch or less) into the tree and then inserts a plastic capsule that contains the chemical. The plastic unit remains in the tree as the tree’s transport system takes up the material at its natural rate. When the capsules are empty, the applicator removes and disposes of them.
 
“The downside of the infusion system is the chemical is being entered at the tree’s own sap-stream rate, so it can take a few minutes to several hours for the product to be placed in the tree’s system,” Dodds says.
 
If low-pressure microinjection is like an IV, high-pressure microinjection is similar to a shot. No drilling is required; instead, applicators use a special syringe-like, direct-inject unit. “The high-pressure system is on the front side very good because you put the chemical in the tree under hundreds of pounds of pressure,” Dodds says. “It’s fast; the applicator does not have to come back and remove any device from the tree. They can walk away and the tree has treatment.”
 
The drawback, critics say, is some research shows that the pressure inflicted on the tree may damage its cambial zone, which results in bark splitting or dead xylem tissue (areas of discolored wood). Also, the tree accepts a lesser amount of the active chemical.
 
Both systems have their believers. “The quick speed and the fact that you don’t have to return to the tree to remove the delivery system makes high-pressure attractive to the practitioner,” Dodds says. “The higher volume of active ingredient placed into tree with the low-pressure system is also valued by many.”
 
Compared to other add-on services like pruning or pond building that may require contractors to make major capital investments, start-up training and supplies for low and high-pressure microinjection generally cost no more than a few hundred dollars. The low-pressure method requires a rechargeable, battery-powered drill and a rubber or plastic-faced mallet, for a total of approximately $100. As is standard when dealing with chemicals, experts recommend safety goggles, protective clothing and chemical-resistant gloves, too.
 
A high-pressure system is pricier but still low-cost compared to capital purchases for other add-on services. The start-up cost of a high-pressure system employing a direct-inject tool is less than $600, says Chip Doolittle, president of ArborSystems, Omaha, Neb. “Most guys can pay for the device in a day,” he adds.

TREE-DOC TRAINING. Tree care professionals acknowledge that microinjection is “easy” and can be “picked up in five minutes,” but there’s more than just learning the proper drilling or injection technique.
 
If a company is going to add microinjection successfully and build customer loyalty, acquiring diagnostic ability is essential. “We see a lot of people who just go out there and inject trees randomly without knowing what the problem is,” Haas says. “You don’t want to put a hole in the tree if you don’t have to.”
 
Tree care product suppliers are one of the main microinjection education providers, as they are required by the Environmental Protection Agency to certify people who use injecticides, Dodds says.
 
Typically, suppliers certify applicators by requiring them to pass a test after they’ve completed home-study courses or hands-on classes conducted by distributors or company representatives. “It is an invasive process – you’re putting chemical into the living part of tree – and there can be some dramatic consequences if you put the wrong chemical in or you treat a tree that doesn’t need to be treated,” Dodds says, adding that an understanding of plant physiology is essential to prevent misapplication.
 
In addition to supplier education, arbor schools and tree care industry associations, such as the International Society of Arboriculture (www.isa-arbor.com) and the Tree Care Industry Association (www.tcia.org), offer training. “It’s really important for a landscape contractor who doesn’t know anything about trees to take classes,” Doolittle stresses.

PRICING AND PROFITS. Once contractors are diagnostically adept, they can move on to the next step – being profitable.
 
When pricing microinjection services, tree care professionals first measure the tree’s diameter at breast height. Injections are made every 2 to 6 inches. A tree that’s 12 inches in diameter at breast height typically requires six injections for both high- and low-pressure systems, Doolittle says.
 
The chemical costs vary widely with fertilizers at the low end, costing about $1.50 per injection, and some insecticides at the high end, priced at about $2 to $3 per injection.
 
Once a contractor knows the tree’s size and the chemical cost, pricing becomes simpler, Doolittle says. For example, assuming an insecticide cost of $2 per milliliter, the product for a high-pressure injection would cost approximately $12, because 6 milliliters (1 milliliter per injection) of chemical is needed, he explains. Considering an application time of three to 10 minutes and assuming an applicator’s wage to be $10 per hour, labor for a high-pressure job costs 30 cents to $1 (not counting travel time). Thus, Doolittle says treating a 12-inch tree using a high-pressure system would cost a contractor a total of about $13.
 
Making the same assumptions (a 12-inch tree that requires six injections), low-pressure treatment chemicals would cost a contractor $36, or three times as much, however the tree receives three times the amount of active ingredient (3 milliliters per injection for a total of 18 milliliters), Doolittle points out. Because a low-pressure microinjection service can last anywhere from 30 minutes to two hours, the labor cost (again at a rate of $10 per hour) is about $5 to $20. In total, a low-pressure system would cost a contractor about $41 to $56.
 
Once a contractor knows his true costs, then he can markup the service accordingly to factor in profit. “You should charge three to four times your cost,” Haas says, noting that overhead and market conditions should dictate the appropriate markup percentage. “But everybody’s different.”
 
High-pressure microinjection can be profitable because an applicator can inject many trees in a short time. White, for example, has administered as many as 100 high-pressure injections in one day.
 
Speed isn’t the essence of low-pressure microinjection treatments, but that might not matter for contractors who provide customers with services in addition to microinjection. Dodds recommends technicians perform injections at the time of routine lawn maintenance. “Treat the tree first – it takes just a few minutes – then do the rest of the work and check the capsules before leaving,” he says. “Most of the time no repeat trip is necessary, and you’ll have added to your bottom line.”